Final Conflict
by AznTigress
Summary: Sora is kidnapped from Destiny Islands by a group of Keybladewielders called Chasers. Riku and Kairi try to find him with the help of old friends, but there is more than meets the eye. How will Sora cope with new enemies to fight and new worlds to lock?
1. Confused Emotions

**A/N:** Finally! I'm done with my essay and am using what time I have until I start my next one to my advantage. This is my own story that takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts II and is based off of the secret ending. Hope you like it.

**EDIT1:** Now that I've finally played and finished both Kingdom Hearts and KH: Chain of Memories (with Kingdom Hearts II still in the works) I've decided to go back and redo the past chapters, which were previously completely based off of information I read on the Internet and not personal experience with the games' stories.

**EDIT2:** After some thought, I've decided to go back and rework the chapters again because: 1) some of them were much too short to begin with, 2) the changes make them fit in better with the time range I'm aiming for, and 3) I finished Kingdom Hearts II. I haven't deleted a chapter per se (I previously had 8 chapters posted). All I did was combine the first and second chapters so I haven't taken out anything. Also, I'm not making any changes to my story to fit in with the upcoming KH2-FINAL MIX- version of the game so anything new and extra in the FM version of KH2 is NOT going to be in my story (well, maybe some but certainly not all).

* * *

**Chapter 1: Confused Emotions**

_The Heartless were coming in droves now. He didn't know how much longer he could hold them off. There were so many it was overwhelming. But he had to try. His friends were counting on him. With a determined grimace, he pushes forward into the sea of darkness with Goofy and Donald at his sides. Summoning both Oblivion and Oathkeeper to his hands, he lashes out at the closest Heartless and watches them disintegrate under the force of his Keyblades._

_There was a flash of light, so white and bright that he was forced to cover his eyes with his arms to avoid being blinded by its shining purity. When the light dissolved away, he saw standing before him his two best friends. He smiles and sighs in relief to see that they were both fine. As Riku and Kairi ran up to him with arms outstretched to grab his, darkness suddenly engulfs all three of them. He quickly loses sight of his friends as he cries out their names into the darkness. He was alone again. All alone… He never liked being alone._

Sora awoke with a start in his bed, nervous sweat drenching his white t-shirt. He gasps as he pants for air, so emotionally shocked by the vividness of his dream. But that was all it was, right? A dream. A mere dream.

_Yeah, that's how it all started_, thought Sora, bringing his hand up to wipe the sweat from his face.

He turns and looks at the one thing that was most likely the main cause of his dream standing on his nightstand. A simple glass bottle with a simple piece of paper corked inside. But what was written on that paper was far from simple. _Very_ far from simple.

Sora gives a sigh and falls back down on his bed, his head hitting the pillow with a soft _poof_. For a few minutes he laid there, staring blankly up at the ceiling in thought. He began remembering how a year ago he was thrust into a world he never knew, given a weapon he's never seen, and forced to fight an enemy he was never aware of. He went through so much to find his friends and encountered so many ups and downs along the way; he was amazed at how he was able to retain his emotional sanity through it all. At times he felt his efforts were in vain, that all he had done to help his friends also in turn helped his enemies as well.

He thought it was over when he defeated Xehanort's Heartless. He thought it was over when he defeated Xehanort's Nobody. But in the end, it was never over. And it never will be. Not as long as darkness exists in everyone's hearts.

A heaviness fell over his heart as Sora turns to look out the window. He watches the ebb and flow of the seashore as he contemplated on what was in the letter. He had been transported back to Destiny Islands and just barely spent an entire week rejoicing over the reunion with his friends when that bottle came. He remembers how Kairi came up to him and Riku and showed them the bottle. The bottle with a rolled up letter marked with an insignia that he was all too familiar with: the insignia of King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle. He wished he had never taken out the letter and unrolled it to read the message inside. But it was too late. What was done is done.

He could still feel the disappointed stares of his friends as he walked away from them that evening. What was said in the letter hit him badly to the point of complete hopelessness.

—flashback—

"Sora!" exclaimed Kairi. "Where are you going?"

"This sounds really important, Sora," added Riku. "We should go see the king. All of us, together."

Hearing that, Sora turns around to face his friends, the bottle and the letter still in his hands. His eyes were filled with confusion, and yet, he knew what had to be done. He just wished it wasn't him who had to bear the burden.

"We've barely just spent a month together after we got back," he voiced his concerns. "And now we've got to go back? I… I don't want to go back. No, not now. Not just yet."

Kairi and Riku were struck by his words, but deep down, they knew Sora has a right to feel how he feels. He's been through a lot and barely got any rest after enduring a grueling battle, even with Riku by his side. Their friend was important, but so was the letter as well. Mickey and the others really need Sora, but even heroes need to rest too. The two of them thought about what to do and, after a few moments of thinking, decided that Sora should choose whether he wants to go or not. He may be the Keyblade master, but he's still a teenager going through an unusually tough stage in his life.

"Sora," began Kairi as she and Riku came up to the boy. "You decide if you want to go or not. Riku and I will support you no matter what. Remember, you're never alone."

"Yeah," agreed Riku. "Take your time. Don't rush it."

Hearing these reassuring words, Sora looks at his friends and smiles. "Thanks you guys."

—flashback—

Sora tears his eyes away from the ocean and turns to face the bottle on his nightstand again. Breathing out an exasperated sigh, he sits up on his bed and takes the bottle from the nightstand. He hesitantly slides the rolled up note out and unrolls it to read it again by the light of the full moon outside.

_To Sora, Kairi, and Riku,_

_This is King Mickey, as you have probably already figured out. We've recently discovered a whole new set of worlds that were opened up by the Heartless after Xemnas' defeat. These worlds are much different from the ones you've locked up before, but maybe you might know something about them. We need your help to lock these worlds. I'm terribly sorry to have you start fighting again so soon._

_Most Sincerely, Your Friend,_

_King Mickey_

No sooner had Sora just finished up reading the letter when a loud rumbling sounded outside. Surprised, Sora quickly turns to the window to see a shadow disappear from the corner of his eye. Guessing the possibility of a Heartless, he leaps off his bed and speedily changes into his fighting clothes and shoes. With that done, he sneaks out of his house and runs alone to the part of the beach where he thought he saw the Heartless. Making sure he was not being watched, he summons Ultima Weapon to his hand and prepares himself for a possible ambush.

He hears a noise behind him and turns around to find himself face to face with a human figure covered in armor from head to toe. Aside from the two "horns" protruding from the sides of the head like bat ears, what was most striking to Sora about this mysterious being was the fishbone-shaped Keyblade in the person's right hand.

_First Riku, then King Mickey, then Kairi, and now this guy_, thought Sora. _Geez. It's hard being the Keyblade master when so many people around you can use a Keyblade_.

He and the being stood there in a standoff until the armored person spoke up in a deep voice.

"Tell me, are you really the Keyblade master?"

"Who wants to know?" retorts Sora, still holding Ultima in a ready stance.

"My identity is of no importance," replies the mysterious warrior. "I need you to come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere," affirms Sora. "Especially with complete strangers."

"I don't think you have much choice in the matter," responds the warrior.

Just then, Sora hears the sound of softly clanking armor behind him and he turns to find two more armored beings with their own Keyblades. Feeling somewhat nervous to have to face off against other Keyblade wielders, the teenage boy grips his Ultima Weapon tightly. For a few seconds the air was silent with intensity as the three mysterious beings stood surrounding Sora. Without warning one of them strikes first, causing Sora to react by deflecting the other's Keyblade off with his own. Another attacks and Sora quickly summons Oblivion to his other hand to cover his opening.

As Sora fights off the other two warriors, the armored being with the fishbone-shaped Keyblade stands aside and waits for his comrades to distract him just enough for him to deliver a blow to the side of the teenage boy's head. Everything happened so fast that one minute Sora was fighting and the next minute he's falling to the ground and blacking out.

--

Kairi awoke suddenly after being asleep for only an hour. She had a bad feeling that something has happened.

"Sora…"

She quickly leaps off her bed and began changing into her usual clothes. As soon as she was done, she sneaks out of her house and ran in time to almost crash right into Riku.

"Whoa there!" the teenage boy cries out.

"Riku!" exclaims Kairi in surprise at her friend, who was also dressed in his new clothes. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was just going to ask you that same question," replies Riku. "But then again, I have a feeling I know the answer."

"It's Sora," affirms Kairi worriedly.

"I thought so," responds the teenage boy. "Let's hurry."

With a nod, Kairi and Riku run towards the beach as fast as their feet could carry them. They reach the beach in time to see the tallest armored warrior walk off with an unconscious Sora over his shoulder. Riku advances toward them and sees that one of them wielded his Way to Dawn Keyblade. He tries to summon the Keyblade, but something about the warrior prevented the weapon from returning to its rightful owner.

"What's going on here?" demanded the sixteen-year-old young man with clenched fists. "Where are you taking my friend?"

"Humph, the Keyblade Master befriending a being of darkness?" exclaims the new wielder of Way to Dawn dubiously. "I find that hard to believe."

"Let him go!" Kairi cries out. "Sora!"

The three warriors merely stared at the teenagers as a portal of light appears behind them. Silently, they turn around and head into the portal.

"Stop!" Riku yells out as he and Kairi ran towards the warriors.

His cry fell on deaf ears as the warriors enter the portal and disappear moments later along with the portal just as Riku reaches out with his hand. The warriors escape his grasp as the portal disappears along with them and his friend. Soon it was just him and Kairi alone on the dark beach.

"No… Sora…" exclaims Kairi in shock, sinking to her knees. "They took him! Why would they take him?"

"I don't know," responds Riku. But deep down, he knew why. It was because Sora was the Keyblade Master. He has a power no one else has and that's why trouble seems to follow the teenager wherever he goes. Of course, Kairi knew this, too. She just didn't want to accept it.

"We've gotta get Sora back," declares the redhead. "He's done so much to get us all back together."

"I know," agrees Riku, recalling his fall into darkness and the emotional reunion at the World That Never Was when Sora found him. "But we're going to need help. We've got to contact King Mickey."

"Right," exclaims Kairi. "I'm going home to write a letter and send it off in a bottle. Hopefully it'll reach the king quickly."

Riku says nothing as he nods in agreement. "Hang in there Sora. We're coming for you."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, **HUGE NOTE** here. The three warriors here are by all means **NOT** the ones in the secret ending or the extended secret ending. Got it memorized?


	2. Help

**A/N:** My apologies for the previously short chapters. The story goes quite quick in the beginning but it'll slow down and get a little longer eventually as you read on.

Currently working on a college research paper on Anime so my story updates will be few and far in between. Still, I've got a great majority of this story all figured out and I hope that you will enjoy the many surprises I have in store. :D

**EDIT:** Finished playing all three Kingdom Hearts games so I'm reworking the chapters. Bear with the changes as they are for the greater good. I promise.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Help**

It was another bright sunny day at Disney Castle. King Mickey was busy at work, overseeing the paperwork that had piled up since his one-year absence. With a sigh, he began reviewing a document on kitchen requests when suddenly Donald bursts through the door of his study squawking up a storm. The unexpected surprise causes King Mickey to fall back on his chair, blowing up tens of paperwork into the air as a result.

"Your majesty, your majesty!" exclaims Donald frantically.

"What is it, Donald?" wonders the mouse as he stumbles back to his desk and uprights his chair.

"Look, look!" quacks the wizard as he takes out a glassy object and shows it to the king. "It's from Kairi and Riku!"

"It is?" exclaims Mickey in response, leaping over his now disheveled desk and landing in front of Donald. The wizard eagerly hands the bottled message over to the king and the two watch as fumbled hands take out the letter inside and unroll it. As they read the letter, their eyes went from a state of excitement to that of concern. "Oh no! Sora's been kidnapped!"

"And the kidnappers are armored warriors that use Keyblades!" adds Donald. "This sounds bad."

"Bad indeed," agrees Mickey. "This is an enemy unlike any other we've encountered. This won't be easy since it looks like they use the power of light."

"Light against light?" exclaims the duck wizard worriedly. "Oh boy, this is troublesome."

"And this is probably only the tip of the iceberg," adds the king. "Donald, go find Goofy. The three of us are going to Destiny Islands!"

"Yes sir, your majesty!" declares Donald as he races out of the study, leaving a trail of fallen paperwork in his wake.

--

As usual, Captain Goofy was fast asleep in the castle courtyard. A swift kick from Donald raises the knight out of his slumber quickly and the three of them make their way to the Gummi ship port as Mickey and Donald fills him in on the situation at hand.

"Gawrsh, Sora's been kidnapped?" exclaims Goofy as he stumbles along in his lanky gait.

"Riku and Kairi are waiting for us so we'd better hurry," reminds Mickey.

Once at the Gummi ship port, Chip and Dale prepares the king's personal ship for take-off. As the ship was being carted into place, Mickey looks again at the letter in his hand as if looking at it again would change what was written. Of course, the message was still the same, scrawled legibly but frantic in its meaning.

_King Mickey,_

_Sora's been kidnapped by armored warriors who use Keyblades. We don't know what's going on or why they've taken Sora. All we know is that they use the power of light to travel around. Please help as soon as possible._

_Your Friends,_

_Kairi and Riku_

--

Sora groans in pain as he groggily opens his eyes to find himself sitting in new and unfamiliar territory.

"Where… am I?"

He rubs the back of his neck where the armored warrior had hit him in order to knock him out. Looking around, he sees that he's in a small rectangular cell with rocky walls on three sides and bars on the last side. Through the bars, he could discern cavern-like pathways with torches on the walls outside his cell. With a sigh, he gets up to his feet and walks up to the gated door of his cell. Once he locates the keyhole, he proceeds to hold out his hand and summon Ultima Weapon. Unexpectedly, the weapon doesn't come to him. Confused, Sora tries again and again to summon his most powerful Keyblade to his hand, but all attempts fail. He tries to summon his other Keyblades and was met with the same result.

Glancing out of his cell, Sora comes to realize why he was unable to summon his Keyblades (and why his pockets felt a bit light). Lying far away from his cell on a little table was all the Keyblade keychains he had acquired on his journeys. Determined to get out of this place, the teenage boy slides his right arm through the bars and tries to reach for his keychains. His attempts proved unsuccessful, even when he tries to summon them to his hand. He felt as if he had been stripped of his powers.

With a defeated sigh, Sora goes over to the far side of the cell and slumps down to his butt. He sees a woodlice crawl its way through the bars and out to freedom. If the insect could talk, it'd probably be mocking Sora's inability to escape like it could. "Sucks to be you," Sora could hear it saying to him.

"Yeah, it does suck to be me," exclaims the teenage boy, hugging his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them. "'As long as I wield the Keyblade, everyone will come after me.'"

Recalling Leon's words, Sora begins to wonder how his friends and allies have been doing since he's returned to Destiny Islands. Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, Arial, Aladdin, Simba, Pooh… Then there were Hayner, Pence, and Olette from Twilight Town…

"Sure made a lot of friends though," Sora spoke softly as he reflects on the better parts of his journey.

Suddenly, there was the sound of clanking metal and the spikey-haired teenager looks up to see an armored warrior taking a place near the cell bars, most likely a guard. Sora notices that this warrior's armor is styled somewhat differently from the other warriors and figures that this must be a fourth. What was most noticeable was the direction of the metal "ears" on this warrior's helmet. Like the warrior that wielded an Oblivion-like Keyblade, the "ears" on this warrior was pointed downward, but not as sharply; they looked as if they were sad rabbit ears.

Sensing a different aura around this warrior, Sora makes an effort to carry a conversation with this person and perhaps try to see why he was captured.

"So, uh, you guys use Keyblades, huh?"

No response came from the warrior as the person turns their back on him. Sora was disappointed, but he was not about to give up just yet.

"That's interesting," he continues. "I can use Keyblades, too."

Still nothing.

"Uh, have you ever heard of Heartless and Nobodies?"

Sora can see this topic struck a chord in the warrior, for he notices the warrior slightly flinches at the sound of the creatures' names.

"So you must've fought them, too, huh?" he wonders curiously. "Did they take over your world? Most likely not since you use a Keyblade, too. You could lock your world, unless that's something only the Keyblade Master can do… Is that why you guys captured me? Because I can lock worlds?"

The warrior turns around and cocks its head at Sora, giving him the implication that he either was annoying the stranger, or just catching his or her interest. Since the warrior's helmet covered the entire head, Sora couldn't really know for sure.

"C'mon! I know you can talk. Your leader spoke to me so all of you must talk!"

The warrior remains silent as it turns around and goes back into its position. Sighing in frustration, Sora crosses his arms and glares at the guard upsettingly. Then suddenly, out of the blue, there was a meek growl. A little rumbling sort of growl. Sora knew he wasn't hearing things when he saw the warrior respond to the sound as well. The growling went on for a little longer until the teenage boy suddenly realizes that it was his stomach growling. With a sheepish grin, he lays a hand over his stomach to muffle the noise, but it just kept growling.

_That's right. I haven't eaten since dinner last night_, Sora thought to himself. He turns to the guard, who had already turned around fully to face its back to him. "Hey, how about something to eat? Even a Keyblade Master needs to eat."

The warrior turns its head to the side to look at its charge and the place fell into silence. Sora figured the warrior was trying to think of something. As if to confirm his thoughts, the stranger reaches into a sack and takes out a plastic bag of something that looked like a bunch of small hand-sized tan footballs. The warrior takes one of them out and hands it to Sora, who hesitantly accepts it. He examines the object and sees that there were indented lines on the surface of the soft bread-like item, making it resemble more of a shell than a football. After a cautious sniff, he takes a small bite of it and his eyes opened wide with surprise. It had a light sweet taste to it and the texture of soft sponge cake blankets his tongue.

"Hey, this is good!" he exclaims, taking another bite. "Thanks!"

If Sora didn't know any better, he'd think that inside that helmet, the warrior was smiling.

--

Standing on the shore of the little island where they always hung out in their childhood, Kairi stares out into the ocean with a look of concern plastered all over her face. She was already dressed in her pink outfit and awaiting the arrival of King Mickey's response to the letter. Coming up beside her was Riku, who was also clad in his new outfit.

"Anything from the king?" he wonders out loud.

"No," replies Kairi solemnly, hanging her head.

Riku gives a sigh and stares off into the distance. "If only I could use the power of darkness again."

"But if you do, you'll…" began the redhead.

"I know," responds Riku, recalling his transformation as a result of using his dark powers to capture Sora's Nobody, Roxas. "But I'm willing to go through all of that again to help Sora and you. That's my choice."

"Riku…" exclaims Kairi softly, unsure of what to say to deter the older boy from reverting to his old habits.

Suddenly, a spark of light appears in the sky and from that spark came a speeding Gummi ship that roars to a stop right before the two teenagers on the beach. Kairi and Riku give simultaneous smiles as they look to see familiar friends step down from the ship.

"Help has arrived!" Goofy greets eagerly with a wave of his hand.


	3. The Search Begins

**A/N:** Ideas for this chapter hit me like a ton of bricks so this one's coming to ya a bit sooner than I thought.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Search Begins**

Feeling mighty bored in his little prison, Sora began humming a tune out of nowhere. It was a familiar song that felt unfamiliar at the same time. Sora wonders where this song came from as he hums it out loud.

"Dum, da dum, da dum, da DUM… Dum, da dum, da dum, da DUM… Dum, da dum, da DUM, DA DUM, DA dum…"

The gentle song catches the guard's interest as the warrior turns its head to "eye" its charge.

"Dearly Beloved…"

Sora instantly perks up at the sound of those words and stares at the warrior, who had quickly turned back around to its former position. The teenage boy runs up to the bars and grabs hold of them in excitement.

"Did you just talk right now?" he asks anxiously. "Was that your voice?"

The warrior said not a word as it continued to show its back to Sora. Seeing that the person won't talk no matter what he says, Sora releases his grip on the bars and walks away from where the guard is. He knew that the guard had spoken that time, but since the tone was so low, he couldn't completely discern whether it was a male or female voice. The mysterious warrior continues to elude him with its silence.

"You're really starting to annoy me," grumbled the Keyblade Master, flopping down the ground. Somehow, he had a strong feeling that underneath the warrior's helmet, the person was grinning from ear to ear. "You think you're _so_ clever, making me into your little toy. Let's see how amusing I am when I just sit here and do nothing."

Unexpectedly, the warrior flicks its arm at Sora, as if to say "go right ahead." With a gulp, Sora plants his hands to the ground as he sat Indian-style and glares at the guard. After staring for what seemed like forever, Sora began feeling extremely bored. He wishes he never made such a challenge and now the warrior was going to win this battle of the minds once again, without doing anything.

He was about to leap up and try to slug the cocky individual until he heard soft clanky footsteps in the distance that got louder and louder. He sees some shadows in the fire-lit caverns and minutes later the group of armored warriors that captured him came into the area. With a frown, Sora gets to his feet and stands defiantly in his cell to express his dislike.

The tallest one with the helmet horns that stood straight up, and also wielded the fishbone Keyblade, steps forward and introduces himself.

"My name is Prongs," he declares in his deep voice. "It's an honor to meet you, Keyblade Master. I apologize for the… accommodations… but surely you must understand that this is the only way we could think of to keep you here."

"Maybe if you hadn't attacked and captured me, I wouldn't feel the need to dislike you guys," retorts Sora, crossing his arms in an angry gesture.

"Yes, it is understandable why you would feel that way," responds Prongs. "We knew that you wouldn't come with us at first glance and we did what we had to because we needed you as soon as possible to help us."

"Then let me out of this," replies Sora.

"Unfortunately, I cannot allow that just yet," responds Prongs. "We need to know if you truly fight for and with the power of light."

The armored warrior walks over to the table where the keychains were and picks up one in particular and shows it to Sora. "Your use of the Oblivion Keyblade makes us think otherwise."

"Just because I use a dark Keyblade, that doesn't mean I necessarily fight for and with darkness," argues the teenage boy. "I fight with my heart. That's good enough."

"Really now?" spoke up the new wielder of Way to Dawn with his horns protruding upward like a vicious wolf. "Tell me, how does one fight with the heart if one does not possess a heart?"

"What?" exclaims Sora in surprise.

"Stand down, Tusks!" Prongs exclaims sharply.

"Wait! What do you mean I don't have a heart?" demanded Sora.

"We have the ability to sense the heart of a person," explains the third warrior, who turns out to be a woman. "Our ability to detect hearts is never wrong and you've been lacking a heart since our first encounter."

"Or maybe even long before then," adds Prongs.

"Y-you mean… after all this time, I'm still a Heartless?" Sora's throat went dry as a bone as he struggles to vociferates his thoughts.

"And that's the reason why we have you under lock and key," confirms the female warrior. "Heartless like yourself have the power of Anti-Form that we must guard ourselves against."

"Anti-Form?" repeated Sora, hanging his head and looking down at his hands. "That's right. I changed into Anti-Form once before. I didn't realize that I was only able to do that because I'm still a Heartless."

"For the time being, we're going to have to keep you here until we can figure out what to do next," explains Prongs. "We never expected the Keyblade Master to be a Heartless."

He turns to walk out of the dungeon. "Tusks! Antler! Let's get to work!"

The two warriors respond accordingly and follow their leaders out of the area, leaving the guard and Sora by themselves.

--

Kairi's eyes were glued to the window as she gazes out into the emptiness of space from the air-filled interior of the Gummi ship.

"Sora…" she whispers quietly. "Where are you?"

In the next room, Riku gathers with King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy to figure out where to start looking for Sora.

"From what we can see here, these new guys use the power of light to travel around," elaborates the mouse king. "So that would mean that Sora's somewhere in the realm of light."

"And what's worse is that one of them is using Way to Dawn," adds Riku. "I won't be able to help Sora without a Keyblade."

"Sure you can, Riku," assures Goofy. "A-hyuck! Donald and I have been helping Sora without Keyblades for a long time. You can do it, too."

"Yeah!" agrees Donald with a squawk.

Just then, Kairi enters the room with a solemn look on her face. "So where do we start finding Sora?"

"Well," began King Mickey. "I was thinking we should go check out Traverse Town. There's a small library there that should give us some sort of clue on where to start."

"Then let's go," declares Kairi firmly.

--

Traverse Town was more like a ghost town since a majority of the population had traveled to Radiant Garden to help with the restoration effort. Shadows of people roamed the quiet and empty streets and occasionally made Kairi and the others jump with their sudden appearances.

"AAAHHH!!

They all screamed as yet another inhabitant of Traverse Town quickly cross their path.

"I don't know how much more I can take of this," groans Donald, putting his feathered hand over his thumping heart.

After a while of walking and searching, the group finally makes it to the library, secretly located in the second district. Sighs of relief rang out as they enter the lifeless building. Inside, books were scattered all over tables and chairs with some still on the many wooden shelves and bookcases.

"Looks… very homely," declares Kairi nervously.

"Well, let's get to work then," voices King Mickey as he goes over to a nearby table and picks up a book.

The others spread out all over the place, looking through every book they could get their hands on. They searched tirelessly for hours and hours in hopes that something would pop up from one of those books. It came to the point where they all began yawning in their search and even Goofy has fallen asleep on a stack of documentaries.

Kairi lets out another yawn as she puts yet another book down and sighs to find that nothing was in that book either. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spies a book that seemed to call out to her from the middle of a pile. With a heart filled with hope, she snatches the book out of the pile and looks at the cover. Its thick brown hardcover was just barely able to hold its pages intact. Some stuck out from the sides of the book, threatening to disappear from its contents. The cover seemed to have some sort of writing on it but years of wear and tear had worn out the lettering, preventing Kairi from knowing what the book was or who had written it. Its aged look implied that it was written very long ago, perhaps ancient.

With a confident smile that she has found the right book, Kairi carefully opens it to read the contents, handling the delicate artifact with utmost care. After reading just a handful of sentences, her eyes widen with glee as she smiles in accomplishment.

"You guys!" she exclaims loudly. "I think I've found something."

Riku and the others perk up upon hearing her voice and gather around her to see what she has discovered.

"Look at this," she tells them, pointing out a sketch in the book.

"It's an armored warrior like the ones who kidnapped Sora!" exclaims Riku.

"What does it say about them?" wonders Donald.

"The Chasers are warriors of light who hail from the world created by and connected to Kingdom Hearts," the teenage girl reads out loud. "The Lost Two are the keys that will unlock the Door of Light and Door of Darkness, opening the path to the world of Kingdom Hearts, the world which has the power to affect both the realm of darkness and light. The Chasers wish to use the power of that unstable world to eliminate all traces of darkness and anyone who uses its power in order to ultimately destroying Kingdom Hearts' Heart of Darkness. The Keyblade's chosen one will unlock the paths to the Lost Two."

"The Lost Two?" repeated Goofy, scratching his head in confusion.

"Does it say anything else about the Lost Two?" asks King Mickey.

"It only says that when the Keyblade Master appears, the Lost Two will come into existence," answers Kairi. "There's nothing else about them."

"Interesting…" declares the mouse king.

"But wait," spoke up Donald. "If the Chasers are fighting with the power of light, doesn't that make them our allies?"

"That can't be," argues Goofy. "The Chasers want to eliminate all darkness, which includes good ol' Riku here."

"And darkness exists in every heart," adds King Mickey. "The Chasers will wipe out pretty much everyone in all worlds. We can't let them do this."

"Wait a second here," spoke up Riku. "Why would the Chasers need to destroy the Heart of Darkness? Don't they know that doing so can throw all worlds off-balance?"

"Those are _very_ good questions, Riku," affirms the mouse king.

"Geez, just when we get one answer, we end up with more questions than before," mutters Donald.

In unanimous agreement, the group heads out the library with Kairi holding onto the book. Just when they step down onto the street, a swarm of Heartless and Nobodies appear, eager to get a taste of the group's hearts. King Mickey quickly whips out his Keyblade as Donald and Goofy hurry to protect the weaponless Kairi and Riku. Unfortunately, the three of them alone were unable to protect their friends from the charging Heartless and Nobodies and they soon fell to the enemy. Riku and Kairi could do nothing but watch as the monsters swarm in on their weakened friends and themselves.

Just then, something lightening-fast tears through the Heartless and Nobodies. Another slower but stronger force finishes off the rest in a blur of cool colors. King Mickey and the others look up to see the figure of two swordfighters standing with their blades drawn and their backs to him. Making sure there was nothing left, the strangers withdrew their swords and turn to face the group.

The first swordfighter was a teenage girl, possibly around Yuffie's age, who wields a mysteriously powerful katana. The sleeves of her dull-colored heavy-duty shirt were rolled up to her elbows, allowing the light complexion of her arms to be exposed. On each of her hands she wore gloves that were snug around the wrist. Matching pants and boots covered the rest of her body while bulky metal guards shield her shoulders. The uniform was then topped off with an extensive brown collar sort of thing that covered her face from the nose down, only showing her ebony-black hair and striking dark hazel brown eye.

The second swordfighter was a strapping young man who uses an unusually large broadsword that was strikingly similar to Cloud's sword. He wore pants and boots as well, but unlike the girl, he had on a sleeveless shirt. Brown leather straps hold up his pants and cover his shoulders with metal guards as well. He too wore gloves, though his seemed more fitting than the girl's. The young man gives a warm smile as strands of his spiked raven-black hair falls over his glowing pastel green eyes.

"You guys all right?" asks the young man, helping up King Mickey and the others with the help of his companion.

"Yeah, we're fine," replies Donald.

"Thanks for the help, a-hyuck," adds Goofy.

"It's no problem at all," assures the young man. "Oh, by the way, my name's Zack and this is my little friend, Zero."

"Zero, huh?" repeated Donald, standing akimbo with a smirk on his face. "What kind of name is _that_ for a girl?"

"A good one," retorts Zero nonchalantly as she looks down at the duck. "Aren't you supposed to quack and not talk? I don't recall ducks or any other bird having the capacity to use magic either."

"Who do you think you are?" squawks the wizard angrily. "Why I oughta…"

"I apologize for my friend," exclaims Zack nervously. "She likes to speak her mind."

"So we see," chuckles King Mickey.

He and the others introduce themselves accordingly, after which Zack begins asking them what they were doing in Traverse Town.

"A friend of ours was kidnapped by these warriors called Chasers," explains Kairi. "We're trying to find a way to get him back."

"Chasers, huh?" repeated Zack, scratching his head. "Yeah, Zero and I have had our run-ins with those guys. Nasty characters."

"Really?" exclaims Goofy. "Does that mean you guys use the power of darkness?"

"Not entirely," replies the young man. "Zero and I are only half dark and half light. I guess they believe that half-darks are just as bad as full darks."

"That's for sure," agrees Riku.

"Say, have you ever met a guy name Cloud?" Goofy suddenly asks out of the blue. "He's got a wrapped up sword just like yours."

"Well, actually, I found this a while ago…" began Zack until he did a double take. "Wait! You guys know Cloud?"

"You know him?" wonders Donald.

"Yeah," replies the young man happily. "He and I are best buds. We haven't seen each other in a long time though."

"We can take you to him if you like," offers Goofy. "We've got a Gummi ship."

"That's great!" exclaims Zack. "But, we're kind of busy with a mission of our own."

"You could be of great help to us," asserts Mickey. "We need all the help we can get to find our friend, the Keyblade Master Sora."

"Wait," pops Zack. "You guys _know_ the Keyblade Master?"

"Yeah," responds Donald. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing, really," answers the young man. "But, is it possible that you and the Keyblade Master can help Zero and me out in return for our help?"

"No problem, a-hyuck," replies Goofy. "Helping people out is what we do."

"Thanks a lot," returns Zack.

--

Zero watches in silence as her friend and the others load into the Gummi ship. The last person, Zack, was about to enter the ship when he turns around to find the girl standing at a distance.

"Hey, Zero!" he calls to her. "C'mon!"

"You go on ahead," returns the teenage girl. "I have to stay behind in case more Heartless and Nobodies show up."

"Why?" wonders Zack. "Everybody's leaving Traverse Town. You won't have anyone to protect. There's no reason to stay."

"Just go, Zack," exclaims Zero. "I'll be fine."

"Oh no you don't," banters Zack as he grabs hold of the girl's arm and flings her body over his shoulder. "You're coming."

"Zack!" Zero screeches angrily. "Put me down this instance!"

"You've been wanting to be rid of me forever," asserts the young man with a smile. "There's no way I'm giving you the chance to be alone."

"You son of a Cuahl!" continues the teenage girl as she struggles to get free of the man's hold. "I'm better off alone! Put me down!"

"I'm not listening, I'm not listening," the young man sang playfully as he marches back to the Gummi ship with the girl kicking and cursing all the way.

* * *

**A/N:** Zero's an… interesting character, isn't she? ;) Squee! Zack in Kingdom Hearts! Wouldn't _that_ be wonderful?


	4. Escape

**A/N:** Yay, now for some Indiana Jones-style action. Dun dun dun dah!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Escape**

Sora had been fast asleep curled up on the ground like a cat when he suddenly heard the sound of jingling metal. He awoke to see a figure at the gate of the cell through blurry eyes. He sits up tiredly and rubs the sleep out of his eyes with his knuckles, wondering what was going on. As soon as his vision cleared, he could clearly make out his guard outside of the cell doing something to the lock.

_Wait a second! Is he...?_

Sora didn't have a chance to finish his thought when the guard quickly enters the cell and roughly grabs his arm to get him up on his feet.

"What are you doing?"

The warrior made no effort to answer the boy's question as it practically drags Sora out the cell and grabs all the keychains on the table in one swoop. Sora had no time to think as he suddenly heard the sound of more armored warriors coming behind them while the guard pulls him along.

As the two of them ran, the warrior began remembering the meeting at the great hall concerning the boy it was dragging along.

-_flashback_-

Prongs stood on the carved rock ledge of the great hall where the other Chasers were gathered below him. They all were discussing what to do now that they've discovered that the legendary Keyblade Master was one of the monsters that they've been fighting to get rid of.

"What are we to do now?" wonders Tusks. "The legend said nothing about the Keyblade Master being a Heartless. Even if he does decide to aid us, we can't trust him knowing that his Anti-Form can emerge without warning."

"I agree," adds Antlers, laying Way to Dawn over her shoulder. "Using him to find the Lost Two is like using a captured wolf that can turn on us at any moment."

"I understand your concerns," declares Prongs. "This is indeed a very troubling situation for us. The only solution I can think of is to destroy the boy and find him again when he is whole with a heart."

"You can't do that!" vociferates the guard strongly. "He's only a boy!"

"We have no choice," affirms Prongs. "This will mean that we will have to remain outside of Kingdom Hearts for a while longer, but it is better than having to depend on a Heartless to help us out."

As the other Chasers yell in approval, the guard stands quietly.

-_end of flashback_-

"Hey! Where are you taking me?"

The guard turns around to find Sora looking at it with curious yet confused eyes. Without a word, the guard turns back and runs faster with the boy struggling to keep up with his arm still clenched by the armored warrior. Suddenly, a squad of Chasers appears before them, causing them to stop in their path.

"Where do you think you're going with the boy?" demanded one of the armored warriors.

The guard remained silent as it summons a Keyblade to its hand. Sora became in awe of the warrior's weapon; it looked like green energy had emerged from the warrior's hand and froze eternally in the discernable shape of a Keyblade. It gave off an ethereal glow in the light, as if to assure that everything will be all right. The teenage boy was so mesmerized by the warrior's Keyblade that he didn't notice the guard handing him the keychains.

The guard manages to snap Sora out of his hypnotic state and the boy gives a nod as he accepts the keychains, taking one and putting the rest in his pockets. With a confident glare, Sora summons out Ultima Weapon and prepares to attack with the guard beside him.

--

Zero awoke suddenly from her nap in which she was sitting with legs and arms crossed nonchalantly. With her dark brown hair covering up her right eye, she turns to glance out the window of the Gummi ship with her uncovered eye and began tensing up. Uncrossing her legs and arms, she grabs hold of her sword and grips the handle tightly as she tries to fight the urge to draw the blade out.

Just then, Kairi walks into the room to find the teenage girl in such a state and shudders from a feeling of intense animosity radiating from her.

"Zero?" she exclaims. "What's wrong?"

Before Kairi could take a step forward a strong arm blocks her way. The redhead looks up to see Zack with his right hand on the handle of his sword ready to defend against his companion.

"Don't worry," he assures Kairi without looking at her. "She gets like this once in a while."

Zack then turns his attention to the other teenage girl, who was already on her feet with her hand still on her sword.

"Stand down, Zero," he commands firmly. "That's an order."

The teenage girl manages to stop shaking from the anxiety, but the feeling was still there. After a few more minutes, she finally forces herself to pull her hand away from her sword's handle and stands as calmly as she usually was.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I suddenly sensed a big fight somewhere and got anxious."

"A fight? Where?" exclaims Zack.

Without a word, Zero makes her way to the cockpit to show them. As she passes by Kairi, she turns to look at the girl with her uncovered eye.

"I apologize if I scared you," she says.

"It's allright," assures Kairi. "I'm sure you didn't mean to."

Zero nods to her in acknowledgement and continues to the cockpit where she instructs Donald, Goofy, Riku, and King Mickey on where to go.

--

Sora holds up Ultima Weapon before him to block another attack from a Chaser as the guard covers his back with its green Keyblade. The fight hasn't been going well and Sora had a feeling the guard felt the same way. The two of them had to escape or they would surely tire themselves out soon. Without warning, the guard suddenly summons a strange vortex of fire that engulfs the opposing Chasers, damaging and distracting them enough for the guard and Sora to make their escape.

The Keyblade Master could hear the sounds of the angered Chasers coming behind him as he follows the guard, who leads him through the labyrinth-like underground lair and towards a ladder. Quickly the guard makes its way up the ladder with Sora close behind. At the top, the guard punches off the trapdoor and leaps out to help Sora exit the opening. Once the boy was completely out of the doorway, the guard immediately closes the door on the incoming Chasers and places a barrier spell on the door to keep it from opening.

Sora figures that the barrier spell won't last long as he rushes after the guard who sprints off into the tan canyon surroundings. He was surprised that even with all that armor on, the guard was able to run as if the heavy metal was as light as cloth.

After a while of running, the two of them stop upon a cliff edge when they have realized they've lost the pursuing Chasers for now. With a heavy sigh, Sora collapses onto the dirt ground and tries to catch his breath. The guard didn't even seem the least bit tired as it scanned their surroundings for any signs of their oncoming enemies.

"Why?"

The guard looks down at the boy, who was sitting up with his arms propped behind him.

"Why are you helping me?" wonders Sora. "Why did you betray your friends to help me? What's going on?"

The armored warrior made no effort to answer the boy's question as it turns around to face its back to him. Suddenly, there was a great burst of wind as something seems to be flying towards them. Seeing a blur of bright warm bold colors, Sora's heart lifts upon recognizing the familiar form of the Gummi ship. The block-like flying structure lowers to the edge of the cliff to lower a ladder to the boy. Sora turns around to find that the guard that had helped him escape was nowhere to be found. With a frown, he grabs hold of the rope ladder and ascends it to the door of the ship where familiar faces waited to greet him.

Almost as soon as Sora got himself into the ship, an elated Kairi rushes towards him to give him the biggest hug of his life.

"SORA!" she exclaims happily. "We finally found you!"

"Kairi?" the teenage boy exclaims in return. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to find you, you big dope!" Kairi replies with a frown upon her face. "You had us all worried!"

On cue, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey come up to show their unanimous faces of gladness. Sora looks at all of them and smiles.

"Didn't mean to worry you guys," he says sheepishly.

"Hey now," began Zack. "I don't know about you, but I think we should take off. I don't like the feeling of this world."

"Yeah, let's go before the Chasers catch up to us!" agrees Goofy.

"Chasers?" repeats Sora in confusion.

"Those armored warriors that kidnapped you are called Chasers," answers Mickey. "But there will be plenty of time for explanations later. Right now, let's get out of here."

With a nod from Sora, Donald zips to the ship's controls and maneuvers the ship off the world. As the Gummi ship blasts off, the group settles down as Zack and Zero introduce themselves to the great Keyblade Master. Almost as soon as things began to calm, the interior of the ship suddenly shakes with great force, causing everyone to fall.

"What's going on?" wonders Kairi worriedly.

"We're being attacked," answers Donald as he squawks up a storm from another hit.

The group line up at the windows to find that sure enough, a strange silvery ship was blasting at them from behind. All thoughts presume Chasers as the enemy ship fires another plasma blast from its gun turret.

"We've got to get the ship into warp boost!" shouts Mickey, trying to keep himself steady on the unstable floor.

"We've been hit too badly!" responds Donald in a panic. "We don't have the capability for a warp boost anymore!"

Sora clenches his teeth in frustration as he held onto Kairi, unable to do anything to help his friends who have worked so hard to find him. Another blast from the Chaser ship sends the Gummi ship spiraling down towards a world in the realm of darkness. As the ship fell, its damaged structure creaks and groans greatly. In moments the Gummi ship slowly began splitting apart from the strain of the blasts. Sora, Kairi, and Donald could only watch as the other half of the ship carries their friends Riku, Mickey, and Goofy away from them. Both halves of the ship separate completely, dividing the group as well.

Sora watches as Riku's half falls into the distance and his crashes down into a canopy of trees, shrubs, and large roots. His group held onto whatever they could as their half of the Gummi ship finally crashes down onto the ground of an unknown world with a big crunch.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry, but for the time being, I'm halting all updates on this story until I finally play Kingdom Hearts I and II. I just don't have enough game and story experience to go on with this story. My apologies to everyone!


	5. A Whole New World

**A/N:** Well, I managed to get myself a PS2 of my own and completed Kingdom Hearts. Haven't finished Kingdom Hearts II yet so don't get your hopes up too soon. I'm still actively working on another fiction at the same time so expect the usual don't-know-when-I'll-update delay.

* * *

**Chapter 5: A Whole New World**

"Sora! Sora, wake up!"

Groaning, the spikey-haired teenager fought to force open up his groggy eyes to find himself looking up at a familiar redhead's relieved face. Glad to see that Kairi was all right, Sora sits up a little too quickly, earning himself a sharp pain in his head. With a yelp, he falls back down on his back, leaving Kairi and the others a tad worried.

"Did you break anything, Sora?" wonders Donald with concern.

"I don't think so," answers the teenager, sitting up more carefully.

"I've already casted Curaga on you, but you're still going to need some rest to recover fully," explains the magic-wielding mallard.

"And I'm going to make sure you get _plenty_ of rest," asserts Kairi with a smile.

Sora gives a little chuckle at the premise of the girl's declaration as he finally takes the time to look around at their surroundings. What was left of the Gummi ship became part of a makeshift shelter in which he was sitting in. Zero and Zack were busy tending a fire they had built not far from the shelter. Night had fallen and Sora could see Zero laying some fish over the fire to cook. All around the five of them was thick and dense jungle. At first, Sora thought they had landed in Deep Jungle or the oasis near the Pride Lands, but the sounds of creatures' cries echoing through the foliage were strange and unfamiliar to his ears.

"Are there any Heartless or Nobodies around?" he asks the others.

"Zero said she might have run into some when she was getting some water," replies Zack.

"Might have?" repeated Sora worriedly.

"I didn't sense any darkness from those creatures," explains Zero. "Most likely they're natives of this world."

"Speaking of which, what world _is_ this place?" asks the Keyblade master.

"We don't know," answers Kairi. Feeling uneasy, she hugs her legs close to her chest. "We still haven't found anyone who can help us."

"Is it just me or do we have an odd tendency to crash-land into backwater places like this?" vociferates Donald with a frown.

"Hey, at least it's not my fault this time," responds Sora. But then he thought a little more and added: "Well, _directly_ my fault anyhow."

"In any case, we've got to find the king and the others and get off of this world as soon as possible," asserts Donald. "We're sitting ducks for the Chasers if we all stay here any longer."

"The bird's right," agrees Zack. "We'll start searching first thing tomorrow. But first things first; food!"

The young man hands Sora and Kairi each a fish-on-a-stick while Zero passes one to Donald. While they ate, Sora remembers something and began speaking as soon as he properly downs a bite of fish.

"So Zack. What are you and Zero doing traveling around?"

"Well, I'm trying to rebuild my world," answers the young man. "Zero also came from my world and I met her at Traverse Town sometime after getting my Buster Sword. We've managed to rebuild a good majority of our world, but there are still some major and important pieces that we've yet to find."

"Didn't you said a while back that you knew Cloud?" inquires Donald.

"Yeah," replies Zack. "I'm trying to find him and some of our friends so they can help rebuild our world. In order for our world to be complete, we also need to find everyone who came from our world and bring them back."

"I don't know if Cloud will be willing to go back so soon," says Sora. "He's still fighting his darkness, Sephiroth. But, Tifa's with him so I think he'll be all right."

"If Tifa's with him then he's definitely fine," exclaims Zack with a smile. "I'm also searching for my light."

"Your light?" echoes Sora.

"It disappeared a long time ago," explains Zack as he began gazing solemnly into the dancing flames of the fire. "I used to remember very well who it was, but now I don't even remember what it looked liked."

Zero finishes her fish and feeds the remains to the fire.

"But I can still feel my light," adds Zack, putting his right hand over his heart. "If I could just meet it face to face again, I could get the strength I need to defeat the darkness back home."

"You'll find your light, Zack," assures Sora firmly. "I know you will."

"Thanks, Sora," responds the young man. "And we'll find your friends as well."

--

"SORA! KAIRI!"

"Uh, Riku, I don't think that's such a good idea," asserts Goofy as he holds up his Save the King shield more cautiously than usual.

Ignoring Goofy's suggestion and possible impending danger, Riku continues to yell out his friends' names in hope of hearing some hopeful reply that they are all right.

"SORA!! KAIRI!!"

"Riku, I think Goofy's right," agrees King Mickey, holding up a handmade torch to light the way through the dark jungle. "We don't know where we are and there's a good chance that your yelling might attract some bad characters towards us or them."

"But what can we do, Mickey?" demanded the white-haired teenager. "This world is so big. It could take us forever to find them."

"We'll find them, Riku," assures Goofy. "We're only on ONE world after all. It's only a matter of time before we meet up with Sora and the others again."

"That's right," adds Mickey. "Let's go find the civilization of this world. We're bound to meet up with the others there."

Before Riku could say a word, the three of them were surrounded by the strangest Heartless of the likes they've never seen before. These Heartless stood on two hinds legs and resembled upright reptiles, their eyes glaring hungrily at the group as their frontal claws curl in anticipation of some tasty hearts. Goofy nervously holds up his shield, somewhat prepared for whatever the creatures will throw at them. Mickey manages to summon out his Kingdom Key while still holding onto the torch as Riku reluctantly calls Soul Eater to his hand.

"We meet again," he exclaims as he holds the dark weapon in his trademark attack position.

One of the reptilian Heartless leaps at him and Riku takes it down in a blaze of smoke with a strong swipe of his Soul Eater. Another goes for his back, but Goofy foils its plan for a back attack with a mighty bash from his shield. Riku thanks him before slicing through another of the Heartless, which fades away in a cloud of black smoke. He and Goofy make sure to cover for Mickey since the mouse has literally both of his hands full deflecting the Heartless away with his Keyblade and keeping the torch lit.

In the midst of the struggling battle, no one succeeded in noticing one of the Heartless closing in on a vulnerable spot in the group which would have left all three of them open for a serious counterattack from the creatures. Once it saw the right opportunity, the Heartless dashes toward the group and jumps up to land right in the middle of the three. Riku manages to see the Heartless at the last minute, but several others kept him busy, too busy to defend the group's weak spot.

Everything felt as if time was in slow motion as the Heartless came close to the group, its jagged mouth opened wide in attack mode. Just as it was inches away from Riku's left flank, it disappears and the smoky remnants brush over the teenager's body. In response to the sudden death of one of their own, the other Heartless shriek and growl as they move back in surprise and not retreat. Mickey, Riku, and Goofy were all perplexed by what was going on until a mysterious figure lands in front of them.

"That was too close, eh?" exclaims the person in a casual tone.

Riku and Mickey immediately recognized the teenage girl before them, her blue jean jacket and pants worn away slightly from perhaps many battles. Her deep ebony hair was still in the same tomboy-styled haircut, except for the addition of more hair tied in the back by a blue hairtie.

"Long time no see, Aya," responded Riku as he dashes through the group of Heartless, taking out all in his path with Soul Eater.

"Your hair got longer," chuckles the girl as her spear turns several other Heartless into black dust.

"Same to you," retorts Riku, pushing through another ambush of Heartless.

Mickey and Goofy could do nothing but deflect Heartless attacks as they watch the two teenagers quickly take out the rest. With the last of the Heartless gone in a fury of Blizzaga, the girl turns to the group as she twirls her spear back onto her shoulder strap.

"So, who are ya?" wonders Goofy, scratching his head.

"Name's Aya, Aya Yurika," introduces the teenage girl while standing akimbo with a grin on her face. "Paleontology and archaeology extraordinaire, at your service!"

"You haven't changed one bit," chuckles Riku, crossing his arms.

"Good to see you again, Aya," adds Mickey, dismissing his Kingdom Key.

"Likewise, Your Majesty," replies the girl. "You guys should be more careful. The Raptors are a lot more cunning than they look."

"Gawrsh, are those the Heartless we just fought?" points out Goofy.

"Yep," answers Aya. "Unlike other Heartless, Raptors can think up strategies and can really wipe you guys out. Even _I_ have trouble taking them down on my own."

"Are there any more Heartless in this world that we have to worry about?" asks Mickey.

"Well, there's the Rhampys," replies Aya. "They're like the Raptors, except they can fly. And then there's T-Roar… Heh, you don't want to go there."

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about this world," notes Riku. "You've been here long?"

"Yeah," asserts the girl. "This was one of the first worlds I've visited since I started traveling. Welcome to Isla Nublar."

"Isla Nublar?" repeated Goofy. "So, we're on an island of some sort?"

"You could say that," affirms Aya. "This world is full of creatures called dinosaurs. Some eat plants while others, like the Heartless we fought, are meat-eaters. Dinosaurs come in all sizes, from the ones we fought to those that are even taller than most trees here."

"Hmm, I'm guessing we should be really careful here?" asserts Mickey.

"You've got that right," confirmed Aya. "But you don't have to worry as long as I'm around. Follow me and I'll take you guys to a safer place."

"But, we're kind of looking for our friends right now," spoke up Riku.

"Well, you can't really look for your friends if you get eaten, right?" notes Aya, holding up a finger. "Don't worry. We'll start looking when daylight comes."

Mickey, Riku, and Goofy all felt unease at the prospects of them being safe while their friends were stuck within a dangerous world. However, Aya was right; searching in the dark while Heartless lay in the shadows is no way to go about looking for their friends. The three resolutely decide to follow the girl and hope for the best.

--

Later that night, as everyone created makeshift beds using whatever they could find, Zack notices Zero sitting near the fire, feeding it more wood. He walks over to her and before he could say a word, the teenage girl beats him to it.

"I'll take the first watch."

"But you must be tired after taking down those creatures by yourself," points out Zack.

"I'm the only one here who knows how to fight them," affirms Zero. "Don't worry, I don't feel tired at all. You go get some rest."

With a sigh, Zack smiles at the girl's resilience and began walking towards his bed. He had not made two steps before he stops and turns around to see Zero's back still facing him.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"Hmm?" wonders Zero as she turns her head so that her uncovered right eye was looking at him.

"Do you still plan on staying with me?" elaborated Zack. "I mean, if you really don't want to help me out, we can always drop you back off at Traverse Town."

"No, I'm staying," responds the sixteen-year-old girl, brushing some strands of her dark brown hair out of her visible eye.

"Why?" asks Zack.

"My reasons are mine alone," answers Zero firmly.

Thinking that was all the answers he was going to get out of her, Zack submits and goes to bed, but not without hearing a strange question on the way.

_You don't remember, do you, Zack?_

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, my original Kingdom Hearts character finally makes an appearance. :) There's more to Aya than meets the eye, but that's for another story. (Hint, hint: look for it in my profile page.)


	6. Expedition Island

**A/N:** Little tidbits about Aya that will be revealed here, but nothing extensive. I have a side-story of hers that's posted in my profile if you're interested.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Expedition Island**

Daybreak came as beams of sunlight pierce through the moist foliage, warming the faces of the foreign visitors in their sleep. Sora could feel the heat of the light as it coaxes him out of his slumber. Groaning irritably, he opens his eyes slightly to see the sleeping head of Kairi lying softly on his stomach. To his right was Zack, who was fast asleep on a bed he fashioned out of a pile of large palm trees. Not far from him lay Donald, who was more than content to sleep leaning on a rock with his hat over his eyes.

Lifting his head a little, the teenage boy could discern a sitting figure near the now burnt-out fire pit. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and was able to focus his visual senses to discover the sitting figure was none other than Zero. Being careful not to disturb Kairi, Sora gently moves her head to her arms and steadily gets up to his feet to stretch his arms and legs out. Once fully exercised, he saunters over to the sword-wielding girl who sat with crossed legs and katana lain before her.

"Zero?" he exclaims in a tone loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to wake the others. "Were you awake all night?"

Sora receives no answer in return as the girl sat there. Feeling a little concerned and perplexed by the silent behavior, he slowly moves his hand towards her shoulder to see if she was at all alive. No sooner had he gotten within inches of her arm did she suddenly grab her sword and swings it at the teenage boy. Sora was quick to move out of the way, putting enough space between him and the girl so that the sharp point of her sword was mere centimeters away from his Adam's apple. He was so surprised to see her react in such a way with her head still facing forward that he unknowingly summoned Ultima Weapon to his hand.

"Z-Zero?" Sora manages to stutter. "It's me, Sora."

In a creepily slow fashion, Zero turns her head towards the boy just enough so that he could see just her visible eye, the other apparently hidden under her short dark-brown hair. What he saw sent a chill down his spine.

There, staring right at him, was a glowing pastel green eye with not a normal black pupil but a cat-like slit. Sora had seen an eye like that before in only one person he had encountered throughout his journey. He had met up with that person once at the Coliseum and once more at Hollow Bastion. It was the one who embodied all the darkness within Cloud.

"Sephiroth…"

At the sound of that name, the intensity of the glow in Zero's eye lessens and she slowly lays her katana down.

"You know Sephiroth?" she asks Sora.

"Yeah," replies the teenage boy. "I've fought him a couple of times."

"You? Fought Sephiroth? And _lived_?" exclaims the soldier girl incredulously. "I find that hard to believe, even if you are the Keyblade Master."

"It's true," asserts Sora strongly, feeling his words were being undermined. "You can ask Cloud when you meet him. He'll vouch for me."

"We'll just see about that," responds Zero, completely sheathing her Murasame.

Sora looks at the girl curiously and crosses his arms. "So, what's your relationship with Zack, Cloud, and Sephiroth?"

"I have… history with them," answered the girl, her eye reverting back to its normal hazel brown with circular pupil.

"History?" repeated Sora. "You were all like friends or something?"

"It's none of your concern," retorts Zero dryly.

"Fine," the boy sighs with heated exasperation.

He turns to find Kairi and Donald beginning to wake up as Zack was opening his tired eyes. A devious smile forms on his face and he sneaks over to the redhead, setting himself near her head so that he could look down from above. As soon as Kairi rubs the sleep out of her own blue eyes, she yelps in surprise to see the shadowy face of the Keyblade Master hovering over her. She struggles to her feet, embarrassed and shocked as the teenage boy guffaws away.

"What the heck was _that_ for?" she demanded as she tightens her hands into fists of fury.

"_That's_ for when you scared me when I woke up back at Destiny Islands," Sora argues back, getting the last laughs out of his system.

"That was a year ago!" Kairi argues back.

"Was it really that long ago?" wonders Sora, finally finished with his guffaws.

"Of course it was!" Kairi yells again. Then she thinks about Sora's question and calms herself down immediately. "Wait, what did you do for an entire year?"

"I don't know," replies the boy. "I remember defeating Ansem, I mean, Xehanort's Heartless. Then Goofy, Donald, and I helped Riku and King Mickey close the door to Kingdom Hearts. After I said goodbye to you, we then started walking down a path and later followed Pluto… Then I met a guy who was wearing one of Organization XIII's black robes…"

Sora crosses his arms as he tries very hard to remember anything past that, but all that came up in his mind was blackness.

"And then what?" wonders Kairi.

"Nothing," answers Sora. "I mean, after that the next thing I knew I was waking up and people are telling me that Goofy, Donald, Jiminy, and I were all gone for an entire year."

"Could we have been sleeping for an entire year?" wonders Donald.

"But why would we be sleeping for a whole year?" questions Sora. "We should've been looking for Riku that whole time, but we ended up sleeping a whole year away. Isn't that kind of weird?"

Before the duck mage could answer, the three of them suddenly hear the sound of Zack yelling quite angrily. They all turn to see that Zero was the target of the young man's anger.

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up!" Zack nearly screams. "I was supposed to take second watch so you could get some sleep!"

"Calm down," asserts Zero nonchalantly. "It's not like I need sleep or anything."

"OF COURSE YOU NEED SLEEP; YOU'RE ONLY HUMAN!"

The teenage girl smiles quietly at the sound of that statement. _Human? Can I really be considered human anymore?_

"Are you listening to me?" Zack quickly interrupts the girl's thoughts. "I don't know what to do with you, Zero. You can't just go and put all the responsibilities upon yourself. We're in this together, if you haven't recalled."

Silently, Zero turns to face the older man. "Zack…"

Just then, a loud bone-chilling roar is heard, so thunderous that the trees around them quiver from the tremors it caused. Sora's face went a little pale as he couldn't think of anything he's encountered or seen that could possibly make such a mighty cry. Kairi and Donald both seemed to feel the same way as well, their bodies frozen in fear of the unknown. Zack and Zero, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit fazed by the sound. In fact, Sora could swear that he could feel waves of excitement coming from the older man.

"Sounds like trouble," Zack exclaims sarcastically. "Looks like we're going to be seeing some action."

--

"So, Aya," began Goofy as he, Riku, Mickey, and the teenage girl wandered along through the jungle. "How'd you meet Riku and the King?"

"I met the two of them during my travels to different worlds," answered Aya. "They told me how they were sealed in the realm of darkness behind the door to Kingdom Hearts and how Riku used the powers of darkness to get out of there to meet up with the King again later. Though it was only for a short while, I stayed with them long enough for Riku to tell me all about Sora."

"So what did you do after you left us?" wondered Mickey.

Aya interlocks her fingers behind her head as she gazes upward in thought. "Well… I stopped off on a bunch of other worlds before coming to this one. I felt like I fit in here pretty well so I decided to stay longer."

She turns to glance over at Riku and Mickey. "Who'd have thought I'd meet you guys again?"

"Coincidence?" suggested Riku, though a part of him was telling him that she isn't giving the whole story.

"Heh, maybe," chuckled the teenage girl.

After a few more minutes of walking, the small group of four eventually came upon the peak of a medium-sized mountain range overlooking an impressive part of the island. Riku, Mickey, and Goofy all gasp in awe at the spectacular view, with groves of trees stretching as far as the eye could see and the sun's bright rays blanketing the valley. A small flock of flying creatures passes by far away, far enough to be mistaken for birds.

"A great view of the island, isn't it?" exclaimed Aya with a grin on her face. "Isla Nublar does have its nice points."

"Gee, it's a long way down from here," notes Goofy as he gazes down the steep incline at the edge.

"No problem," assures Aya, going over to an injured tree and tearing off a thick chunk of bark from its wound.

"Please tell me we're not doing what I'm think you're doing," groaned Riku as he and Mickey's hearts dropped slightly in their chests.

Not appearing to sense the two's anxieties, Aya walks over to the beginning of a beveled pathway that ran down the length of the mountain. The part of the mountain where the pathway was carved was less steep, but still steep nonetheless. To confirm her intentions, Aya drops the curved plank of bark on the edge of the pathway and places a foot upon it.

"Do you have a better idea?" she turns to ask Riku with a hand on her hip. "'Cause unless you've got extra sets of wings in those pockets of yours, this is the only way down from here."

Now it was Goofy's turn to groan as he glances down the mountain again and swallow a gulp. "You mean, we've got to _slide_ down?"

"No, we're going tree-surfing," retorted Aya, rolling her eyes. "Yes, we're sliding down. So go grab yourselves some good chunks of bark and let's get going."

Riku, Mickey, and Goofy all did as they were told, but all still had second thoughts about the whole thing.

"Here we go," exclaimed Aya as she stabilizes a foot on the ground and one on the bark like a snowboarder. "See ya at the bottom!"

With that said and done, she pushes off with her ground leg and in mere moments she was flying down the mountain at breakneck speed. Riku, Mickey, and Goofy all look down to see the teenage girl disappear into the tress embedded on the side of the mountain. Taking a deep breath, Riku reluctantly places the bark down and slides off in a similar fashion, giving a yelp of fear as he began moving. Mickey and Goofy came next, with the latter's cry following afterwards.

"YAA-HA-HA-HOOEY!!"

* * *

**A/N:** Oh boy, mountain surfing. WITHOUT snow. :) Sounds like GREAT fun.


	7. Coming Together

**A/N:** Aww, come on people. There's about 2500 hits on this story and yet only 12 reviews? There's got to be something wrong about it that you guys should tell me. Are there continuity errors (in my story, NOT from the games)? Grammar errors? SPELLING errors? If you haven't noticed, I've allowed anonymous reviews for all of my stories so you don't need a Fanfiction account in order to review any of my stuff here. Please say something so I can improve myself. Any serious critiquing is greatly appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Coming Together**

Riku couldn't help but cry out in surprise as yet another tree came zooming towards him. It was tough trouble for him to stabilize himself on the flimsy piece of bark as he dodges the tree just barely. He wishes dearly that he had taken off a bigger slice than he did, but now it's much too late for regret.

Another mountain tree.

_Dodge._

Low branch.

_Duck._

Another low branch right after.

Crash!

The teenage boy coughs out a couple of leaves as he clumsily steadies himself, more leaves still remaining in parts of his long white hair. Something tells him Mickey and Goofy weren't faring too well either, their cries and Goofy's lanky crashes ringing out behind him.

_Knowing Sora, this is something he'd __**definitely**__ try without question._

Riku came out of his thoughts just in time to evade several more trees. "Whoa!"

Up ahead, the teenage boy could just barely catch a glimpse of Aya, who was surfing down the mountain with the greatest of ease. Riku could tell that this wasn't the first time the black-haired girl tried sliding down a mountain.

"Almost there!" he could hear her cry out.

Then, no more than thirty seconds after Aya called out, Riku found himself flipping head over heels onto stable ground as the bark slid out from underneath him and gravity slammed him into hard dirt. Not long after, Mickey and Goofy soon followed, piling up right on top of the white-haired teenager.

"Wasn't that fun?" Aya grinned from ear to ear as she held her bark like a skateboard.

"Your idea of fun is our idea of dangerous," groans Goofy as he slides off of Riku.

"Party-poopers," mutters the girl as she tosses her bark-board into some nearby bushes.

"So, where to now?" wonders Mickey.

Aya brings a hand up to her head and falls into a thinking position as she contemplates their next move. "Well, there's a big building I remember seeing somewhere on the island. There's an abandoned buffet restaurant there so we can use it as a safety zone."

"Sorry, but we still need to find our friends first," spoke up Riku, crossing his arms in affirmation.

"I understand that, but we've got to consider the fact that we're still in danger out here," asserted the teenage girl. "Heartless aren't the only things that we've got to look out for. There's also the native creatures that reside on this island and a good majority of them wouldn't think twice about turning us into lunch."

Mickey instantly recalls the Raptors the group encountered earlier. "How similar are the native creatures to the Heartless we saw before?"

"Let's just say, losing our hearts is the least of our worries here," replies the girl.

Goofy began looking a little scared as he suddenly shudders from a thought. "Uh, the native creatures here aren't by any chance dinosaurs, are they?"

"You got it," affirms Aya. "We've got dinosaurs of all kinds on this island: plant-eaters, egg-eaters, meat-eaters…"

The lanky dog swallows a gulp as he recalls learning about the prehistoric animals in school and seeing various horror movies on them courtesy of his son, Max. "Then that means, there's a t-rex around here, isn't there?"

"Yep," affirms Aya once again. "And apparently the biggest one on the island's been recently turned into a Heartless."

"A Heartless t-rex?!" exclaims Goofy fearfully. He then began shuddering more so than before.

Mickey began to look a little worried. "Have you encountered this Heartless before?"

"Well, I haven't really taken him on one-on-one if that's what you're asking," answered the girl, scratching her head. "But I have seen him on many occasions. He always roars when he's hungry so that's why I call him T-Roar."

Suddenly, a loud, monstrous roar echoes throughout the island, causing several species of flying dinosaurs and some birds to fly up in a panic. Immediately Goofy was white in the face and ended up face-planting the ground upon fainting.

"Uh-oh," exclaims Aya, turning in the direction of the sound. "Looks like T-Roar's hungry again."

"You don't think he's found Sora and the others, do you?" Riku voices his concerns.

Everyone looks at one another and quickly rushes over to Goofy to wake him up. Once awakened, they race over to the location of the source of the roaring in hopes of getting to their friends before it was too late.

--

"Give me strength!"

In a bright flash of light, Sora merges with Donald and he instantly changes into the blue-themed Wisdom Form. Magic spells came out of Ultima Weapon's tip in rapid fire as the Keyblade master began shooting at the slew of Raptors and the airborne flying Rhampys that suddenly came out of nowhere. Kairi had summoned her Wave of Friendship Keyblade and was busy taking out the Heartless along with Zero and Zack.

"Where did they all come from?" wondered the red-head as she cuts through several Raptors and Rhampys.

"Zero, are these the creatures you saw before?" Zack questions the other girl as he slams the Buster Sword down onto the ground to take out several other Raptors with Blade Beam.

"No, the ones I encountered weren't Heartless," replies Zero as she torches a Rhampy using Fire1.

Sora turns in time to shoot down a Rhampy that was headed for Kairi. "There's too many of them! I don't think we can handle them all!"

"I have a bad feeling these Heartless aren't here just randomly," responds Zack, using another wave of Blade Beam on some Raptors. "They could have been running away from the bigger one we heard earlier."

"Why do you think they were running away from one of their own?" exclaims Sora. "Do you think there's something wrong with that Heartless?"

As the teenage boy turns to shoot down a Rhampy, huge jaws suddenly close down around the Heartless in one big chomp. Sora became petrified as he held out his Ultima Weapon and his eyes and mouth grew wide at the sight of a reptile-like snout in front of him. T-Roar gave a snort as it sniffed the Keyblade and the boy hungrily. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Sora reverts back to his normal form and Donald appears, sitting high atop the boy's spiky head.

"Oh…" exclaims Sora.

"Boy…" finished Donald, whose eyes and mouth were just as wide open as Sora.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

The huge gust of hot breath and dead meat stink blew out at the boy and the duck as T-Roar roared out at them, spots of slimy drool hitting them both as their skin was forced back from their skeletons so much it felt as if it was going to peel right off of their bodies.

"Sora!" exclaims Kairi, fearing that the boy would be eaten in less than a second.

"YAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Sora screamed outright as he and Donald scurries away from the gargantuan Heartless.

Without a second to spare, Zack unleashes his Blade Beam on the monster as Zero pulls off her own variation of Omnislash.

"Fury Slash!"

The teenage girl became nothing more than a blur as a second hidden katana appears out of nowhere and began cutting into T-Roar alongside Murasame. Each slash hit the Heartless dead-on as did Zack's Blade Beam. Once Zero finishes off her combo attack, she falls back and lands right beside Zack with a katana in each hand. They had managed to damage the huge Heartless quite a bit, but it would seem their combined efforts weren't enough to do any significant amount of damage to the monster. Instead, it looked as if they simply made T-Roar angrier.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

Black murky smoke began emanating from the Heartless' mouth as it prepared to strike back. Sora's eyes went wide with worry as he saw that the oncoming attack looked eerily similar to the one Cerberus threw at him back during his very first visit to the Olympus Coliseum. However, unlike the Coliseum's stadium, there weren't enough open space to dodge the underground attack since there were too many trees around. Donald realized it too as he soon began scurrying as far away from the Heartless as possible.

"Run for it!" Sora shouted out frantically as he dashes toward Kairi, grabs her hand, and began running.

Zero and Zack were both a little confused at first until they watch as T-Roar spews out a wave of darkness from its massive jaws into the ground. Immediately, little spots of black and violet appear on the ground and shot up with great magical force. Seeing as this was unlike anything the two had seen before, Zero and Zack quickly ran after Sora, Kairi, and Donald, all trying their best not to get caught in the black spots, which were speedily coming after them.

As the five of them ran along, they watched as the spots came underneath trees and completely rip them out of the ground, roots and all. They soon discovered that not only do they have to avoid getting blasted from below but they must also avoid getting smashed from above by the falling trees. Sora looks up in time to see a tree come falling down right on him and Kairi. Without a second thought, he jumps up and cuts the trunk in half with Ultima Weapon. As he came down to earth, a black spot suddenly appears underneath him and the boy could do nothing as a blast of black magic hits him dead on.

"Aaaahhhh!"

"Sora!" Kairi shouts back. She hurries toward him and accidentally steps onto a black spot herself.

"Reflega!"

In an instant, the red-head was encased in a spherical shield of magic that blocked the dark blast from hitting her. Confused, she looks up in time to see Donald jump off of the sphere and cast Reflega on Sora before another blast hits him again.

"Kairi! Keep running!" ordered the duck, rushing over to where the now-shielded Keyblade master was.

Realizing that there was nothing that she could do to help, Kairi reluctantly runs away with Zero and Zack. Before long, she and the other two ended up in a dead end at a rocky wall of a mountain. The three of them turn around in time to see the revitalized Sora and Donald joining up with them. The ground blasts had ceased, but soon earth-shaking footsteps replaced them. They all turned to see T-Roar coming up to them quickly and hungrily.

"I have a bad feeling our hearts aren't going to be good enough for him," commented Donald nervously as the Heartless came near.

Then suddenly, T-Roar stops in its tracks as something appears to have hit it on the head. The Heartless roars angrily and shakes its head to clear the daze.

"Dark Break!"

Out of nowhere, a familiar figure came down on the monster from above, attacking it in a series of stomping cut movements with his Soul eater.

"Hey, it's Riku!" exclaims Sora.

Joining up with the white-haired teenage boy were Mickey and Goofy, who immediately began attacking T-Roar with their own weapons. In a roar of fury, T-Roar aims its mouth upwards and shoots a huge fireball at Riku. The boy manages to block the attack with his Dark Shield and falls back to land near his friends. Mickey and Goofy soon join up with him afterwards.

"Your Majesty, are you all right?" exclaims Donald worriedly.

"I'm fine, Donald," assures the mouse king. "Now, let's all take care of this Heartless together."

As the eight of them began attacking T-Roar all at once, the Heartless suddenly began moving faster than before, despite its large clumsy size. Everyone was completely caught off-guard by the sudden change in attack speed as T-Roar slams everyone into the rocky wall behind them with several fire blasts.

"Why… why is it so fast all of a sudden?" groans Sora as he tries to get up.

"There's a lot of us around now," replies Riku, struggling to get up as well. "The scent of so many hearts must've sent T-Roar into a frenzy."

"How are we going to stop it?" wonders Goofy worriedly.

Just then, T-Roar began to launch another fireball from its mouth when a loud battle cry is heard and a figure lands on top of the Heartless' head. Moving quickly, Aya stabs Ferocity's tip deep into the monster's head, causing it to roar out in pain. Infuriated, T-Roar whips its head around frantically as it tries to dislodge the weapon from its skull. Aya hangs onto her weapon for dear life as she digs the spear deeper into the wound.

"Hurry up and use Ice magic on it or something!" she shouts out at the group below.

Upon hearing that, Zero casts Ice3 on the monster while Donald blasts at it with Blizzaga. T-Roar got angrier as the magic attacks hit it but at the same time it was getting weaker as well. Seeing this, Riku rushes in with Soul Eater to start finishing it off. Sora wanted to finish the Heartless off as quickly as possible so he decides to use another one of his forms.

"Give me strength!"

Goofy merges with Sora, but instead of going into Valor Form, Sora felt something powerful emerge from deep within him. Without warning, the teenage boy went into Anti-Form and immediately became feral, going on all fours and striking out at T-Roar with his claws. Riku was stunned to see a black shadow race up next to him and start pummeling the Heartless into oblivion.

"Sora?" he exclaims as he turned to look at his friend.

The white-haired boy was met with glowing yellow eyes as the shadowy Sora sends him flying back towards Kairi and the others.

"Riku!"

Kairi ran to the fallen boy's side as he tries to get up. Both of them watched as Sora takes down T-Roar single-handedly.

"What's happened to him?" wondered Kairi with a mixture of worry and fear in her eyes.

Riku turns to look at Donald, who continues to cast Blizzaga on the Heartless despite what had just occurred. With one final slash of his claws, Sora finally manages to defeat T-Roar. Roaring out one last time, the huge Heartless falls to the ground and fades away in a fog of black smoke. Sora watches with Heartless eyes as a huge heart emerges from T-Roar and floated skywards. He was about to go after it until a voice rang out.

"Sora, don't do it!"

The shadowy Sora turns to see Kairi standing behind him with her hands over her heart.

"Don't do it, Sora!" she pleads him. "You're not a Heartless!"

Instincts overwhelmed logic as Anti-Form Sora dashes towards the girl with claws outstretched. Not believing what she was seeing, Kairi became shocked as the shadow that was her friend came running after her for her heart. Before Sora's hand could reach into her chest, Riku quickly pushes her out of the way, causing Sora's claws to graze the white-haired boy's left arm. Sora lands on all fours behind them and quickly rushes back to get at their hearts. He didn't get within five feet of them before a glinting katana hits him full on the chest. In just one instant, Goofy was separated from the boy and falls unconscious onto the ground while Sora himself slammed into the rocky wall and falls unconscious as well.

Seeing that the boy was back to normal, Kairi rushes over to Sora while Donald tends to Goofy. Everyone else was simply stunned by what just came to pass in front of them.

"Fast as always, Zero," spoke up Zack as he walked over to where the brown-haired girl was at, located near Riku and the fallen Goofy.

"Sora," groaned Riku. "He turned into a… Heartless?"

Donald said nothing as he casts Curaga on Goofy and then proceeds to help out Sora.

"Donald!"

The duck mage stops in his tracks upon hearing Mickey's stern voice call out to him.

"Explain yourself," demanded the mouse king. "Why did Sora turn into a Heartless?"

Donald exhales a solemn sigh as he watches Kairi try to wake Sora up. "Because… Sora _is_ a Heartless."

Everyone near him gasps in response. Upset by the revelation, Mickey approaches the duck mage and crosses his arms with a frown upon his face.

"How could this happen?" he asks him. "How could you and Goofy let Sora become a Heartless?"

"He did it to himself!" Donald argues back and then places his hands over his mouth quickly afterwards.

"It's true," spoke up Riku as he sat up holding his wounded arm and looked down at the ground. "Sora became a Heartless when he released Kairi's heart from his body. I thought he had gone back to normal when I saw him again as a human."

He turns to face Mickey. "He's just like him now. Xehanort's Heartless."

"But that doesn't make any sense," exclaimed the mouse king. "A heart becomes a Heartless when it leaves the body and the body and soul that's left behind becomes a Nobody. Sora has already completely merged with his Nobody so he should be whole now. Why is he still a Heartless?"

"It's my fault."

Everyone turns to where Kairi was. Sora still lay unconscious as she stood up and faced the others.

"That night back on the island," she began. "When Sora tried to catch me, my heart pushed his out of his body and replaced it with my own. When he released my heart from his body back at Hollow Bastion, he became a pure Heartless. He only kept his human form because of me."

"If that's true then what happened to _Sora's_ heart?" wonders Donald.

"I don't know," replied Kairi as tears began to well up in her eyes. "I really don't know."

"Well, it's most likely still around since Sora can still feel emotions."

All eyes turned to Aya who felt a little uneasy stepping into the conversation. "Sorry, I haven't had the chance to introduce myself. I'm Aya, Aya Yurika."

"Aya, are you saying that Sora's heart is somewhere nearby?" Mickey asks hopefully.

"I'm not really sure about that, Your Majesty," admits Aya. "But, since Sora still feels emotions, then that means he still has a connection to his heart."

"How are we supposed to find Sora's heart?" voices Zack. "No offense or anything, but all hearts look the same to me. How can we tell which one's Sora's?"

"I think only Sora can find his heart," replies Aya. "His connection to it may be the key to help him find it."

"Does that mean that as long as Sora is a Heartless, he'll continue to go into his Anti-Form?" spoke up Zero, sheathing Murasame.

"Looks that way," affirms Aya.

"How often does his Anti-Form occur?" Mickey asks Donald.

"Not very," assures the duck mage. "The chances increase only when he goes into his forms. He's fine the rest of the time."

"That's good to hear," responds Mickey.

Looking around at their current situation, Zack crosses his arms. "So what do we do now? The Chasers could be looking for us as we speak. I'm afraid the fight with T-Roar probably put us back on their radar."

"Oh right, the Chasers," exclaims Mickey. "I almost forgot about them."

"You know, that abandoned building I told you guys about earlier is still up for grabs," spoke up Aya. "There's also a radio station in there so you could probably try to contact a friend with some magic."

"Then we'll head there next," declared Zack. "We're all going to need a safe place to stay while Goofy and Sora recuperate."

"Just follow me and we'll be there in no time," exclaims Aya as she points the way.

Putting their new plan into action, Zack goes over to heft Sora over his shoulder while Zero carries Goofy over hers. As the group follows Aya, Riku noticed that Kairi was really quiet.

"Don't blame yourself," he tells her, which causes her to look up at him. "I'm the one who unlocked the door to our world and caused all of this to happen, remember?"

"Riku," responds Kairi.

"But even so, what's past is past," asserted the boy. "We can't change what happened; we can only move forward and learn from our mistakes."

Kairi nods in agreement. "You're right. We're all together now and that's what matters."

"Yeah," replies Riku. "That's all that matters."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, since no one knows what the heck Kairi's Keyblade is called, I've decided to name it Wave of Friendship. If anyone knows what that Keyblade is called, PLEASE tell me. I'm CURIOUS! And yes, I ripped Aya's battle entrance off of Cid from Advent Children. Hey, if I wanted to be original, I wouldn't have started writing fanfictions, now would I?


	8. What Lies Within

**A/N:** For those of you who have never seen Jurassic Park, you're going to be totally lost from here on out. Go Google Jurassic Park the movie or look it up on Wikipedia if you don't want to get utterly confused in this chapter. You have been warned.

There have been some changes made to the chapters of the story. You can read all about it in the first chapter (Edit2).

* * *

**Chapter 8: What Lies Within**

The group was astonished by the building that stood before them. Not only was it huge, it was completely abandoned, which raises many curious questions.

"Um, Aya?" spoke up Riku.

"What?" responded the girl as she ascended the steps toward the entrance.

"What is this place?"

Aya stood in silence as she pondered the question. "Uh, I think I'd rather let _them_ explain it to you."

"Who's _them_?" asks Mickey.

"You'll see," assures the girl as she continues her way up the stairs and through the metal and glass double doors.

Everyone in the group looks at one another and reluctantly decides to follow the teenage girl into the abandoned building. Once inside, they were met with a messy pile of bones, construction ladders, and platforms littering the area. More questions popped up in their minds as they continue to follow the girl into a particular door where rows and rows of computer consoles lay covered in a new layer of dust and sporadic pieces of trash.

"Doctor Grant? Doctor Sattler?" Aya shouts out into the empty room. "It's me, Aya!"

The group watched as three people, two men and a woman, emerge from another door in the room and approach them.

"Aya, I'd thought you had been eaten by a tyrannosaur," spoke up the taller man with brown hair, blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of khaki pants.

"Come now, doctor," spoke up Aya in response. "As you can see, I'm quite capable of taking care of myself against the dinosaurs."

"She's right," asserts the woman with blonde hair, a blue t-shirt covered by an orange shirt, and khaki shorts. Both she and the tall man wore brown hiking shoes. "And who are these people?"

"Oh, uh," Aya turns around to face the other group.

"Hi there. I'm Kairi."

"Riku."

"Mickey."

"Donald."

"Zack."

"Zero."

"And the people who can't really talk right now are Sora and Goofy," added Aya, pointing to the two unconscious individuals respectively.

"So many people," exclaims the woman. "How on earth have you been able to stay alive all this time?"

"You people look like you just flew in or something," asserted the tall man, noting Zack and Zero's unusual attire. "Where are you from?"

"Someplace _very_ far away from here," answers Zack with a grin.

"Apparently so," responded the man. "Oh yes, I'm Doctor Alan Grant and this is Doctor Ellie Sattler."

"You can just call me Ellie or Doctor Sattler," greeted the woman.

"And I'm John Hammond," introduced the older, shorter man. "Welcome to Jurassic Park."

"Jurassic park?" exclaims Riku. "Is this some sort of amusement park or something?"

"Well, if you call running away from hungry dinosaurs amusing, then I guess you can refer to this place as such," responded Alan.

"What happened here?" wonders Kairi.

Alan, Ellie, and John all look at one another before one of them finally spoke up.

"Uh, let's all have a seat," suggested Alan. Once everyone found a seat and Sora and Goofy were laid on a couple of nearby tables, the man began his story. "Well, it all started when John Hammond here decided to go and play God on this little island."

"Now, now, that wasn't my original intention at all," asserted the old man. "You see here, I wanted to build a place where people could step back in time to the age of dinosaurs and see these magnificent creatures in the flesh."

"Yeah, well, one thing led to another and soon enough the dinosaurs broke out of their cages and now they run rampant throughout the island," continued Alan. "Now we're just trying to stay alive while we wait for help to come."

"Wait a second," spoke up Donald. "If this is supposed to be a theme park or something like that, where are all the workers?"

"The carnivorous dinosaurs had them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner," replied Alan rather matter-of-factly.

The duck mage swallows a nervous gulp in response.

"Then, recently, these strange dinosaurs began appearing out of nowhere for some odd reason," added Ellie. "I saw one take something out of a velociraptor's chest and then the victim velociraptor became just like it. It was very weird."

"These things appeared long after we met Aya," added John. "She told us that they were called Heartless. I've never seen anything like them."

"I found it peculiar how these creatures resembled velociraptors and rhamphorhynchuses in shape and size and even behaved accordingly," noted Alan. "I would like to study them, but Aya told us that it was best to stay as far away from these Heartless as possible."

"Well, you don't have to worry about them because now we're here," declared Mickey.

"I surmise that you all are leading experts on these Heartless?" wondered Alan.

"Sure are," affirms Donald.

"Then, I guess we're in good hands," added Ellie.

"Hey, what about me?" spoke up Aya looking a little perturbed.

"Ha ha, you've helped us a lot, too, Aya," chuckles Ellie. "We haven't completely forgotten about what you've done for us."

"So what's wrong with your friends there?" asked John, pointing over to where Sora and Goofy were resting.

"They're fine," answers Kairi. "They're just… tired."

"I see," replies Ellie. "I hoped they haven't gotten bitten by any of the dinosaurs around here. We don't know if dinosaur spit is bacterial or anything so we try not to get injured by them."

"Eww, lizard drool," shudders Zack.

"Don't worry; this room here is a safe-haven from the dinosaurs," assures Ellie with a smile. "The locks on the doors here work very effectively in keeping the meat-eaters out."

"That's comforting to know," commented Riku. A sharp pain shoots up his left arm and he reactively grabs hold of his wound and grimaces in response.

"My gosh, what happened to you?" wonders Ellie as she walks up to the teenage boy to inspect the injury. "I guess a dinosaur got to you after all."

"No, I had a little… accident," replies Riku as he removes his hand to let the woman take a look.

Kairi fell quiet as she turns to look at the still unconscious Sora lying still on the table, his chest rising and falling as he breathed steadily. Suddenly, Aya turns and dashes for the door. Everyone was confused until a brown-skinned velociraptor came charging towards the steel door which was opened slightly ajar. Aya came just in time to slam the door right on the bipedal saurian as it shrieks out furiously. The teenage girl presses her body against the door but the weight of her petite body compared to the overall power of the dinosaur was not enough to keep it from coming in. Seeing this, Zack quickly came up and pushes against the door along with her. Together their combined weight against the door forces the velociraptor to recede back.

Once the door was completely closed, Aya activates the electronic lock and the steel bar clicks tightly into its place. On the other side of the door the velociraptor was still shrieking and slamming its body into the door in order to get to the other side where dinner was.

"What the heck was that?" exclaims Kairi.

"Velociraptor," Alan replies as he grabs hold of a pistol lying on a table near him. Soon, shrieks of other velociraptors join the one banging against the door. "And it sounds like it's not alone."

Aya and Zero take strategic places near the door with weapons out in case the velociraptors succeeded in getting inside.

"Where can we go?" asks Mickey.

"There's an underground maintenance room not far from here," informs Ellie, packing some supplies into her backpack. "We've got medical provisions there so I can treat your injured friends."

Riku goes over to lift Sora over his back while Zack takes care of Goofy. Meanwhile, John had set up a ladder to a particular ceiling tile and proceeded to ascend it to push the ceiling tile in, since there was only one way in and out of that particular room they were in.

"Come on!" he exclaims as he hefts his aging body through the hole and into the ceiling.

While Alan steadies the ladder for the others, Kairi, Donald, Ellie, and Mickey climbs up into the ceiling followed by Riku and Zack with their limp loads. Afterwards, Aya and Zero go over to guard the ladder while Alan makes his way up himself. Once the man disappeared into the ceiling, the two teenage girls followed suit.

Crawling through the ceiling on hands and knees wouldn't be so bad if it were not for the fact that the unstable ceiling tiles beneath them could give way at any moment, turning an unlucky individual into dinosaur chow. It was especially tricky for Zack with Buster Sword weighing him down along with Goofy. The spiky-haired man crawls along quickly yet carefully as each tile he went over creaked ominously from his overall weigh.

"We're almost there," exclaims John as he crawled. "There's a ladder up ahead that leads down to the basement. We'll be safe there."

Eager to get out of their current situation, Zack speeds up a little and in doing so accidentally plunges his hand into a ceiling tile. Yelling out in surprise, the man went down along with Goofy as everyone near him looked on in horror.

"Zack!"

Luckily, Zack managed to grab hold of both the edge of the hole he'd created and Goofy's hand. The royal guard was still unconscious and dangling above the main lobby of the visitor's center as Zack tries to pull the both of them back up. Riku rushes over carefully and holds out a hand to help Zack up. As he, Aya, Zero, and Donald looked down the hole, what was staring back at them from behind Zack filled them with utter terror.

"Zack…" began Zero. "Whatever you do… DON'T look down…"

The spiky-haired man didn't quite understood what was going on until he felt a warm breeze blow up from below him. His eyes widen in surprise and he turns his head downward to find himself staring right into the sniffing snout of a full-grown blackish brown tyrannosaurus rex. Zack's throat went as dry as a desert as he tries to think of what to do.

"Zack…" warned Aya. "Do NOT move. T-Rexes have been shown to have poor eyesight so if you move, it'll think you're food and eat you."

"Heh, that's nice to know," the man retorts back nervously.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Goofy began stirring and slowly came to as Zack fought to hold his grip on the lanky dog's hand.

"Wha-where am I?" wondered Goofy. He feels warm air come up beneath him and upon looking down, he became petrified with fear.

"WHHAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

Moving about sporadically Goofy scurries up Zack into the ceiling hole, causing the curious tyrannosaur to suddenly go on the hunt. Opening its massive jaws it tries to grab hold of the man and pull him down into its mouth. Quickly, Riku and Donald hurry to pull him up as the now excited tyrannosaur began jumping up to get to them.

"Keep going!" exclaimed Aya as she went over to the hole and puts her legs through.

"No, Aya, don't you even think about it!" chastises Alan from near the shaft ladder far up ahead.

"Don't worry, Doctor Grant; I'll be fine," assures the teenage girl as she makes a leap towards the tyrannosaur's mouth.

The girl lands on its teeth and jumps off towards the stairs on the side of the lobby. Slightly caught off by surprise, the tyrannosaur began chasing after the teenage girl as she ran up the marble steps. Once she was a bit higher than the tyrannosaur's head, she climbs up onto the steel banister and jumps into the air and uses the full force of gravity to slam her spear onto the dinosaur's head. The tyrannosaur roars out and tries to chomp onto the girl but fails miserably. She pushes off the head with her spear and flips in the air to unleash a second gravity-strengthened attack on the tyrannosaur. This attack manages to knock the dinosaur unconscious and its huge body crashes onto the smooth marble floor beneath it, shaking the building upon hitting the floor. Aya catches onto a nearby construction platform with one hand as she held her spear, Ferocity, in the other. With a quick examination of the downed tyrannosaur, the girl concluded that this was a male.

"That's good to know," exclaims Aya. "If it was a female…"

She didn't want to finish her thought as she imagined what would have happened if it was a female tyrannosaur, which are known to be bigger and much more vicious than their male counterparts. Shaking her head, Aya climbs up the platform back to the hole and jumps in.

While Aya had been fighting the tyrannosaur, everyone else had made it to the basement where three individuals were waiting for them.

"Grampa!"

Two kids, a boy and an older girl, ran to John and hugged him tightly. On a steel table in the middle of the underground room was a man dressed in black with a meek smile on his face.

"So, you guys didn't get eaten after all," he exclaims upon seeing Alan, Ellie, and John. "Thanks to you guys, I now owe two kids twenty bucks each."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ian," retorts Alan as he crosses his arms.

Ian Malcolm chuckles in reply and then hisses as pain from his stomach wound shot through his body. Ellie pulls up another steel table and sets it beside the one Ian was lying on. Afterwards, Riku walks over and places the knocked out Sora on it.

"Hey, no one said anything about me having a bed-mate," banters Ian.

"Don't worry, it won't be for long," assures Ellie. "He's in much better condition than you are."

"I'm hurt," retorts Ian. "Literally."

Meanwhile the girl, who was apparently John's granddaughter, was gawking at Zack and making the poor man feel utterly uncomfortable.

_First Heartless, then a mutant lizard, and now this girl_, thought Zack. _I'm being attacked by everything today._

"Um, may I help you?" spoke up the spiky-haired young man.

"Are your muscles real?" wondered the girl.

"Uh… yeah," replies Zack.

"Can I… touch them?" she asks curiously.

Upon hearing this, Zero couldn't help but stifle her laughter as Zack tries to move behind her for protection.

"Sorry, my name's Alexis Murphy," introduced the girl. "But everyone calls me Lex."

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, Lex," chuckles Zack, finally placing himself fully behind Zero, putting his short friend between him and the young girl.

Timothy Murphy rolls his eyes at his older sister's embarrassing behavior and goes over to his idol, Alan. "So, Doctor Grant, we never finished that conversation about how dinosaurs are related to today's birds."

Now it was Alan's turn to hide from one of the kids, but unfortunately Ellie was busy bandaging Riku's arm alongside Kairi. Over in another part of the room, Mickey and Donald try to calm down the now fully conscious Goofy who was still reeling from almost being eaten by a tyrannosaurus rex.

"Such a very big mouth…. I can still feel its breath on me…" stuttered Goofy as he shudders from the fresh memories.

"Goofy, I know you're under a lot of stress right now, but I need to ask you something," spoke Mickey. "What happened when you merged with Sora?"

The lanky dog stops shuddering as he closes his eyes to remember a better though still bad memory.

"Well, usually when I merge with Sora, I become one with him," began Goofy. "I can see and feel everything he does. But… at times like this… I felt something come out from deep within him. I was thrown into darkness and I couldn't find my way out."

"Same here," adds Donald. "We don't know if Sora realizes what happens when he goes into Anti-Form. He probably falls into the same darkness and is as clueless as we are."

"All because Sora's heart is still lost somewhere," concluded Mickey, crossing his arms worriedly. "Until Sora gets his heart back, he's going to have to stop going into his forms, even if they do make him stronger."

"I don't know how he'll feel about that," said Goofy. "Despite the chance of Anti-Form, the Drive Forms really helped us out in a lot of ways."

"Then let's hope we won't need them anymore," spoke up Donald stamping his foot firmly. "In fact, we should stop using them altogether. We've managed to fight without them before and we can do it again."

Goofy nods in agreement. "That's true."

Just then, Aya joins up with them, surprising everyone in the room.

"Aya, you continue to amaze us," spoke up Alan.

"You sure she's human or a robot in disguise?" added Ian. "'Cause I cannot fathom how you are able to fight dinosaurs one on one."

"Heh, guess I'm just special that way," chuckles Aya, walking over to where Ian is. "How are you doing, Mister Malcolm?"

"I'm getting better," responded the man and he tries to get up but groans as pain sends him back down on the table. "Uh, guess not."

"Oh, yeah, if any of you guys are hungry, there's food in the fridge," Lex points over to the freezer in the far corner.

"Well, actually it's a freezer so we might need to start a fire if you're actually going to eat anything," spoke up Tim.

"Don't worry, we'll manage," assures Donald, wielding his Save the Queen staff.

--

In the middle of a dense forest, a portal of light opens up and an armored warrior steps out. Whereas Antlers has dark violet armor and Tusks has dark yellow armor, this new warrior dons dark green armor with two spikes coming off of each side of the helmet. Once the Door to Light closed up, the warrior holds up a hand and a sphere of light forms in the palm of the armored hand. Within the sphere of light was an image of Prongs with his dark red armor.

"Have you arrived, Claw?" asked Prongs.

"Yeah," replied the warrior whose voice suggested he was male. "But I don't see why I have to do this. This world is Talon's territory."

"Talon is under investigation for the crime of aiding the Keyblade Master in escaping," replied Prongs.

"Whoa, Talon?" exclaims Claw incredulously. "Are you sure it's Talon that was behind all of that? That's the last person I'd expect to pull something like that."

"Talon's loyalty to the Chasers is questionable," said Prongs. "But there is no time to discuss that now. Your mission is to destroy the Keyblade Master and his allies. Fangs shot down their ship on this planet."

"And why isn't Fangs doing this instead of me?" wonders Claw.

"Fangs has been assigned to seek out Talon, who had gone missing after the Keyblade Master's escape," replies Prongs. "Now enough dawdling and carry out your mission. Prongs out."

With that, the sphere dissipates in the warrior's hand, leaving him to contemplate on the current situation.

"Talon, why couldn't you just go along with Prongs and the others?" Claw sighs in exasperation. "Or better yet, you should've let me in on what you were planning to do; I would've helped you out. I just hope we don't encounter each other, 'cause I would have to destroy you."

Summoning keychain-less versions of Jungle King and Circle of Life in both hands, Claw proceeds through the jungles of Isla Nublar.

* * *

**A/N:** Whew, this chapter just refused to be written. . Don't know when the next update will be as ideas on how to progress the story haven't been coming to me very easily.


	9. Dangerous Encounters

**Chapter 9: Dangerous Encounters**

_The long dirt path before Sora was long and winding as he, Donald, and Goofy walked along. Around them was an endless landscape of wild grass, peppered with the occasional bush and tree. Their next objective was to find Riku and King Mickey, but none of them knew where to start looking. Exasperated, the three of them sighed and bent over in defeat. Sounds of soft footsteps arouse their curiosity as Sora looked up to find Pluto crossing their path. Donald calls out the dog's name and Pluto turns to reveal a letter in his mouth, a letter whose seal resembled a familiar royal insignia. Sora asks the four-legged creature the whereabouts of their friend and the dog turns and bounds off, causing Sora and the others to give chase._

_After a while, the three of them lost sight of the yellow dog and night soon fell upon them. Deciding to rest for the night, Goofy and Donald made themselves comfortable on the cool grass. Tossing and turning on the ground, Sora couldn't get himself to sleep, his mind filled with doubts and concerns swimming about. After about fifteen minutes of laying in the grass with eyes wide shut, Sora gets up to see that his two companions were fast asleep. With a restless heart, the teenage boy decides to walk along the path for a while in hopes of tiring himself out and easing his troubled mind. He didn't realize how long he had been walking until he came across a four-way crossroad where each path seemed to stretch out into infinity. Suddenly, behind him, a voice sounded out ominously._

"_Ahead lies something you need."_

_Sora quickly turns around to find that there was no one behind him. He senses the presence again and turns back to the crossroads to find himself facing a figure dressed in a black hooded robe with the hood covering his face and hiding his identity._

"_But to obtain it, you must lose something dear."_

_With that, the figure turns and disappears into thin air._

_Who… What… What do I need?... What do I have to give up?..._

Sora flash opens his eyes to find himself in a completely different place than the exotic jungle before. Groaning, he sits himself up and raises a hand to his head to alleviate a throbbing headache that now troubled his temples.

"Sora, are you all right?"

The teenage boy turns to see the concerned face of his dear friend Kairi who was sitting in a chair next to his "beside."

"Kairi?" exclaims Sora. "Where am I?"

"Someplace safe, that's where," quacked Donald, hopping up and down to see his friend.

"About time you woke up. I was itching to start drawing on your face."

Sora turns to see a teenage girl with semi-long black hair tied down in the back saunter up to him. Her outfit consisted of a blue jean jacket with the sleeves scrunched up over an off-white shirt and a pair of blue jean pants. Dark brown and black hiking boots compiled her footwear while navy green finger gloves covered most of her hands. A ninja sword lay strapped around her waist while a strong-looking spear was attached to a brown belt-like strap that ran from her right shoulder down to her left side. Even though Sora was sure he had never met the girl before, something inside him sensed familiarity with her.

"You look… familiar," voiced the Keyblade Master as he raises an eyebrow curiously.

"Right, I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to you since you got knocked out after I came along," responded the girl with a chuckle. She holds her right hand out to him in greeting. "I'm Aya Yurika."

"Oh," exclaims Sora, something clicking in the back of his mind. "You're the one who told us to attack T-Roar with Ice magic."

"Yeah, I've got a pretty good knowledge of how to handle the Heartless in this world," replies Aya proudly.

"Don't forget the dinosaurs."

Sora turns to his left to see a man dressed in black lying next to him.

"Ian Malcolm," greeted the man with a weak grin. "Nice to meet you, uh, Sora, right?"

"Yeah," answered Sora.

"I'd shake hands, but as you can see I can't even shake a leg without hurting," chuckles Ian.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Malcolm," Sora greeted back.

An awkward silence overtakes the entire room, but Goofy is quick to cut through it.

"Ya feelin' any better, Sora,?" asks the lanky dog knight.

"I've got a big headache the size of Monstro but, other than that, I'm fine," replies the teenage boy. He looks around at his surroundings and notices something amiss. "Where's Riku and the King?"

"They went out with Zack, Zero, and Doctor Grant to try to get radio contact for a rescue Gummi Ship," answers Kairi. "They'll be back soon."

"Doctor Grant?" repeated Sora.

"You'll meet him when they get back," responds Goofy. "As well as Doctor Sattler and the kids."

"You guys found a lot of people while I've been out, haven't you?" chuckles Sora, sitting himself up on the steel table and turning his body so that his legs dangled over the edge. "What else has been happening while I was out?"

"Well, we almost got eaten by some velociraptors," Aya blatantly blurted out. "And Goofy and Zack both had a close call with a hungry tyrannosaurus rex."

"Don't remind me," sighed Goofy, putting a hand over his eyes in an effort to erase that particular memory out of his mind.

"Velo-what and tyranno-huh?" sputtered the poor boy as he scratches his head, obviously lost to Aya's terminology of the dinosaurs.

"Uh," Aya brings a hand up to her head and looks up at the ceiling to think. She suddenly remembers something and pulls out a little notebook from one of her pockets. She flips through the pages and finds the information she was looking for and shows it to Sora. "This here is a velociraptor." She points to a very detailed sketch of the dinosaur. She then flips through a few more pages and shows the new information to the boy. "And this is a tyrannosaurus rex, or t-rex for short." She points to a detailed sketch of that dinosaur. "They're called dinosaurs and they dominate this world we're on. The meat-eating dinosaurs are as dangerous as the Heartless around here, if not even more dangerous."

"Dinosaurs…" repeated Sora, crossing his arms. Suddenly his eyes lit up brighter than a lamp in the middle of a dark swamp. "Oh, dinosaurs! I learned about those in school!"

"Duh, Sora," Kairi giggles at the boy's reaction. "They were your favorite science subject. In fact, they were the only things you got good grades in."

"Hey, I can't help it if dinosaurs were the coolest things I've ever learned," responds Sora with a big grin.

"So, what's your favorite dinosaur?" wonders Aya with a smile.

Sora jumps off the steel cart he was one and brings his arms up behind his head in thought. "Mm, I think my favorite one is the stegosaurus. Yeah, stegosaurus."

"Stegosaurus?" exclaims Aya, who lets out a little laugh at the answer. "Why stegosaurus of all dinosaurs?"

"Because they both have spikes and a brain the size of a walnut."

Sora was caught completely off-guard as Riku grabs the boy's head in a headlock and rubs his knuckles into the boy's spiky head in a massive noogie.

"Ahhh! Riku!" Sora yells out as he struggles to escape his friend's hold.

"Riku!" exclaims Kairi, jumping up from her chair in surprise. "When did you guys get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago," replied the older teenage boy as he finally releases his best friend. Zack and Zero stood behind him, neither saying a word although Zack gave a smile and a friendly wave. "The King and Doctor Grant went to get Doctor Sattler and the kids. They'll be back later."

"You didn't have to jump me like that," glared Sora as he fixes his now frizzy fuzz of hair back to its original spiky-ness. As he did so, he suddenly catches a glimpse of the white bandages wrapped around his older friend's arm. He walks over and pokes Riku in the arm, which causes the boy to recoil sharply.

"Hey, stop that!" responds the white-haired teenager, immediately covering his injury with his other arm.

"Riku, what happened to you?" wondered Sora, his voice practically saturated with concern.

"I got scratched up a bit, that's all," answered Riku matter-of-factly. "Nothing serious."

Sora crosses his arms and frowns at his friend, not believing his story at all. "You're lying to me."

"No, Sora, Riku really did get scratched up by a dinosaur while you were out," asserted Donald, trying to cover for the older teenage boy. "Doctor Sattler fixed him up so there's nothing to worry about."

The frown never left Sora's face as he continues to keep his arms crossed in doubt. "What was it that King Mickey said a while ago? 'Eyes don't lie'?"

Words became caught in Riku's throat as he looks away from his friend. Kairi follows suite as she wraps her arms around her chest and hugs herself in uncertainty. Sora sees this and becomes more upset as a result.

"Come on, what are you guys hiding from me?" he asks his friends. "First it was King Mickey keeping information about Riku from me and now you guys are keeping something from me, too?"

"Sora, it's not like that," affirms Goofy, trying to ease the growing tension among them.

"What did _I_ do to deserve this?"

Everyone was shocked as well as Sora himself after hearing that exclamation come out of his own mouth. The Keyblade Master did a double-take as he became confused as to how differently he was behaving. His eyebrows floated up in wonder as he takes a step back and looks down at himself.

"What? What's going on with me?" he wonders aloud. "Why am I acting like this?"

With tears almost welling up her eyes, Kairi just couldn't take what was happening to her friends. She practically leaps out and hugs Sora from behind, laying one side of her head onto his back.

"It wasn't your fault, Sora," she cries out. "You weren't yourself."

"What?" exclaims the teenage boy. "I… I hurt Riku…?"

"Come on, Sora, you've smacked me around plenty of times before," spoke up Riku, forcing a smile. "Remember?"

"That was because you weren't yourself back then," asserted Sora. "Things are different now. I don't have a reason to fight you anymore."

"You just went into Anti-form, that's all, Sora," assures Goofy. "I mean, you, Donald, and I all know what happens when Anti-form comes out."

"Yeah, but we… I… we never hurt anyone we cared about when I was in Anti-form before," Sora argues back. "Why now all of a sudden?"

"Hey, now, what's the problem?" spoke up Zack, feeling as if he'd drown in the growing tension. "You won't have to worry about that anymore if you just stop going into your forms from now on."

"That's right," quacks Donald with a jump. "As long as we stop Driving from now on, we'll never have to worry about Anti-form ever again."

"Yeah," responds Sora, laying his hands over Kairi's. "Kind of a waste of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's magic, though."

"Aw, I'm sure they would understand," assures Goofy with a smile as Donald nods in agreement.

--

After trudging through the dense jungle for a good long time now, Claw was starting to feel very frustrated on top of being hot and sweaty out of his sane mind.

"For the love of all that's light!" he exclaims loudly as he dismisses Jungle King and Circle of Life to remove his helmet. Once his head was free of the metal headgear, Claw shakes his head about, his short slightly spiky brownish blonde hair bouncing from the movement. "Ah, that's much better! Why couldn't Fangs shoot them down in the middle of nice cool forest instead?"

Suddenly, the young man hears shrubs and foliage shuffling nearby. Two flashes of light and the Keyblades appear in his armored hands once again as his helmet falls to the ground with a thud. Almost as soon as the metallic headgear touched the dirt, five velociraptors came leaping out from the trees with claws outstretched to slash him to pieces.

"Aeroga!"

With a confident smirk plastered on his face, Claw twirls his body and Keyblades around to summon up a tornado of an Aero spell, catching all of the raptors completely off-guard and sending them flying up high into the air. He bends low to the ground and pushes off to launch himself up towards the airborne velociraptors to deliver a slew of aerial combos that left the dinosaurs nearly incapacitated by the time they came back down to earth. Forcing his body into a couple of aerial flips, Claw lands neatly on the ground while the velociraptors lay dazed and disoriented all around him. Walking over to one of them, he lays his booted foot on the dinosaur's side as it moved its head around slightly with eyes glazed in its appearance. A cold look in his eyes, Claw twirls Jungle King around and thrusts its tip forcefully down on the velociraptor's head, causing it to shriek out in pain as it slowly dies under his foot.

"A dark world with nothing but dark natives has no choice but to surrender to the light," he declares nonchalantly as he rips the Keyblade out of the dinosaur's now bloody skull.

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, just wanted to post another chapter before I leave you guys hanging yet again. Hopefully I'll be posting more during the summer, but I'm not too sure.


	10. The Reality of Things

**A/N:** Finally, I reach the double digits in my story! (_yay_) Sorry for the extra long wait. This chapter just refused to be written, I swear!

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Reality of Things**

Alan and Mickey trudge through the jungles of Isla Nublar alone after dismissing Riku, Zack, and Zero from their little troupe. Earlier they had succeeded in radioing for help at a radio tower, although for Mickey he discreetly used a bit of magic to contact Cid and ask for a rescue Gummi Ship. With help on the way for both groups of survivors, Mickey requested that Riku returned to the hideout with Zack and Zero for support. The young men had protested a great deal about leaving the two with less protection but the mouse king assured them that he and Alan would be fine. Mickey knew that traveling in such a large group would likely attract the attention of the carnivorous dinosaurs on the island. The Heartless could be easily be dispatched, but there was sure to be trouble should they encounter any more prehistoric predators. Gloved white fists clenched, Mickey walked along with Alan, ready to summon Darkside at a moment's notice.

After about half an hour of walking, bending, and climbing through dense foliage, Mickey and Alan finally reached the visitor's center. Cautiously, they made their way to the dining area where Ellie and the kids, Lex and Timothy, were supposed to meet. The tyrannosaur that once stalked the main lobby was long gone, the damages it left behind a reminder of its destructive strength. As he recalled how Aya managed to take down the giant beast, Mickey could not help but feel that something was different about the girl since the first and last time they met. She was a complete stranger upon the first encounter, but something in his heart felt a familiar resonance.

_But why?_ thought Mickey. _Back in Castle Oblivion, Riku told me that Sora was in the castle as well. My heart says there were two hearts, but my gut tells me there were three…_

Mickey was taken out of his thoughts upon hearing the sound of two children clamoring over to them. Ellie was not far behind and panic was plastered all over their faces.

"Good grief, what happened to you three?" exclaimed Alan.

"We've gotta get out of here now!" stammered Lex, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest.

"Velociraptors!" added Timothy with equal anxiety.

No more words needed to be exchanged to explain the urgency of the situation. As the sound of bestial barking echoed throughout the center, the group ran outside and into the dense jungle. Bushes and branches scratched at their bodies as they jumped over rocks and roots in a desperate effort to simply stay alive. Far behind came sounds of scurrying and screeching as the pursuing velociraptors rushed to capture their prey.

_This isn't good_, thought Mickey as he ran alongside the others. _They're just too fast for us to escape. We can't split up nor stay together in a group._

Suddenly, a pack of Raptors and Rhampys appeared ahead of them, pinning the group between the Heartless and the velociraptors. The group had nowhere to go now that they were blocked in both the front and back. There was no time to think of alternative routes as the predators close in on the group. Things were going from bad to worse.

_Or is it?_

In a flash of brilliant light, Darkside appeared in Mickey's hand. With determination brimming in his eyes the mouse king cut through the group of Heartless before them, only destroying those within his reach.

"Keep running!" he tells the others.

Allan, Ellie, and the kids did as they were told as Mickey continued to slash through the Heartless. Looking behind briefly, Mickey could see that his plan was working. The Heartless that he missed ended up getting in the way of the pursuing velociraptors, giving them the perfect opportunity to escape their fate of becoming dinosaur food.

With that problem out of the way, the group reached their hideout in no time at all. All eyes were on them the moment they ran through the steel door and shut it tightly behind them.

"Your majesty!" squawked Donald worriedly. "Are you allright?"

"We've got to go, now!" interrupted Allan with urgency, going over to Ian to help Ellie pick him up.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" winced Ian as the two adults hoisted him onto his working leg. "Easy on the merchandise, please."

"Wait, this isn't going to work, Allan," spoke up Ellie, supporting Ian on his bad side. "There's no way we can avoid the dinosaurs with Ian injured like this."

"You're right," agreed Allan, supporting Ian on the man's other side. "We're going to need a jeep or something." He thought for a moment and then finally noticed the now conscious Sora and Goofy standing not far from him. "Oh, I see you're up and about."

Aya made quick with the introductions seeing as there was not enough time for everyone to properly get to know each other.

"Well, now that _that's_ out of the way, I have something to tell you guys," spoke up Zack. "While you guys were gone, Zero managed to dig out a working jeep."

Zero merely stood in silence, not saying a word to affirm those of Zack's.

"That's great!" exclaimed John Hammond, who had been napping earlier. "We can use that to get to the heliport."

"But what about them?" asked Allan, motioning to the otherworldly group.

"Don't worry about us, Dr. Grant," assured Riku. "We'll be fine."

"Besides, you guys need that jeep more than we do with Mr. Malcolm injured like that," affirmed Kairi.

"Thank you all," said Ellie. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

"I'll go on ahead and make sure there's nothing predatory outside," suggested Aya. "Once you guys get on the jeep, the rest of us will cover you to make sure you get away safely."

"Allright then," agreed Allan. "We're counting on you all."

"No way we're going to let you guys down," asserted Sora confidently. "That's a promise."

With the plan agreed upon, Aya led the way up to the entrance of the hideout. Opening the door slowly, she notes that the coast was clear and emerges with her spear out and ready. Behind her came Allan, Ellie, and Ian, followed by the kids and John. Zero forges ahead and leads them to the jeep. Allan and Ellie carefully lay Ian out on the back while Lex, Timothy, and their grandfather took places in the back seat. Once everyone was settled in, Allan and Ellie moved to the front to the driver and passenger seat respectively. Zero hands Allan the keys and with that, the man starts up the engine.

As the car moves out towards the entrance to area, Sora, Riku, Mickey, Goofy, and Aya surround the vehicle at all sides. Donald remains close to the jeep in case of aerial attacks along with Kairi with her keyblade out and ready.

The formation remained like that until the group managed to successfully find their way to a nearby road. John picks out directions to the helipad using a map they found back at the hideout. Now that they were on the road, encounters were less likely and easier to handle with the durable park jeep. Before the jeep left the other group, Allan calls Aya over to have a word with her.

"Aya, thank you for all your help," he tells her. "It would be great if you came with us, but I think you should go with those guys."

"Are you sure, Dr. Grant?" asked Aya. "What if the velociraptors or maybe another tyrannosaur finds you?"

"We've managed to outrun a tyrannosaur before with a jeep," answered Allan. "And if we see any raptors, we'll just run them over."

"But…"

"Don't worry about us," assured Allan with a smile. "Something tells me you should go with them. There's a lot for you to discover and learn out there and you won't find any of that if you stay in one place forever."

"I understand," responded the girl. "Thank you for being my mentor, Doctor Grant."

"You just take care of yourself, Aya," bade Allan. "I'm sure you'll become a fine paleontologist."

Changing gears on the jeep, Allan turns into the road in the direction of the helipad at high speed. Aya could do nothing but watch as the jeep disappeared in the cloud of dust it left behind. With a sigh, she turns to face her new traveling companions.

"Well guys," she says with a smile. "You've got yourselves a new traveling buddy."

"Are Doctor Grant and the others going to be okay?" wondered Kairi worriedly.

"They'll be fine," assures Aya. "They didn't survive this long because of me alone."

Silence. And then.

"So, where to now?" asks Sora.

"Cid told us to head to the highest point we can find on this world," said Mickey. "He'll pick us up from there and take us to Radiant Garden to recuperate."

"Do you know of any high points here, Aya?" questioned Riku.

The girl raises a hand and began scratching her head in thought. "Well, there's that peak we were on before…"

At the sound of that, Riku, Mickey, and Goofy all simultaneously felt a chill run down their spines at the prospect of scaling the steep slope of that inhumane mountain.

"Or… there's Mount Pteradactyl," continued Aya. She turns to the others with a proud grin. "I named it myself."

"Please tell me there's a road that goes up there," gulped Goofy.

"Actually, there is," answered Aya, pointing to a path opposite the road much to Goofy's relief. "We just follow this up to the mountain. It should take use about 2 to 3 hours or so."

"Well, let's get going then," said Sora. "No time to lose, right?"

"You should take it easy, Sora," urged Donald. "You haven't fully recovered yet."

"I'll be fine, Donald," assured the teenage boy. "If anything, I can just cast Curaga on myself to keep going."

"Curaga has its limits, Sora," warned Donald. "Don't be so dependent on it."

"Don't worry," said Sora.

"If we're all ready here," intervened Aya, who seemed slightly annoyed by the arguing. "Follow me."

With the group back to being just Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Zack, and Zero, with the addition of Aya, things should be a little easier since most members can fight one way or another. Together they trudge towards their new destination with tired hearts and renewed hope. At the very least they were all together again so that main concern is taken care of.

An hour passed uneventfully, though there were some false alarms along the way which included mysterious noises and rustling in the foliage to keep the group on edge. Coming into a clearing in the forest, Aya stopped and stared in shock at the scene before her. The others came around and all eyes widen at the horror facing them. Scattered all over the ground were the remains of bloodied velociraptor carcasses. Flies and maggots have already made their homes in many of the bodies while smaller dinosaurs like compsognathus and buzzards ate away at the unoccupied bits of flesh. Upon seeing the new arrivals, the scavengers immediately scurry off in search of other sources of food.

Kairi gasps in horror at the sight. "Oh my gosh…"

"This… is horrible," spoke up Sora, scouring the area.

"What kind of dinosaur could've done this?" wondered Goofy, being careful not to step on the carcasses as the group tries to pass through.

"This wasn't done by a dinosaur," spoke up Aya as she kneels down next to a dead velociraptor to examine the corpse. "See these cuts? This was done by a weapon. And by the looks of it, it's probably something like…"

"A keyblade?"

All eyes turned to the source of the voice. Emerging from the dense trees was an armored warrior, covered in metal from head to toe. The green of his armor glinted in the sunlight as he stepped forward with Jungle King and Circle of Life in both hands, blood dripping from the keyblades' tips.

"You…" growled Sora, summoning his Kingdom Key as Riku, Mickey, and Kairi summoned theirs in turn. "You did this?"

"You must be blind or something to ask me that when the evidence is right in front of you," spoke Claw as he approached the group.

"How could you?" Aya slowly stood up, anger burning in her red-orange eyes. In the blink of an eye, she whips out her spear and stands ready to fight.

"These heathens of darkness must be eliminated in order for light to prosper," explained Claw. With his right hand, he raises Jungle King and points it at Sora. "Those who stand in the way of all that is good will perish."

"These creatures were just living the only way they can," growled Aya. "They have no other choice. To punish them this way for merely existing the way they are… that's the true road to darkness!"

In a flash Aya's eyes changed to an azure state as she leapt from where she was to attack the Chaser. "You have no right to decide what lives and what dies!"

Swinging her spear in a blur, the weapon connects with the staff of Claw's Jungle King and immediately puts him on the defensive.

"Everyone! Follow the path to the mountain and wait for your friend!" yelled out Aya as she continues to fight the Chaser.

"We can't just leave you!" argued Sora.

"I'll catch up later!" responded Aya. "Don't worry about me, just go!"

"We don't have a choice!" said Zack, pulling Sora back.

"But..." protested the Keyblade Master.

"Believe in her, Sora," said Mickey. "Everything will turn out all right."

With much reluctance, the teenage boy follows the group, leaving Aya to cover their escape.

"You're not getting away that easily!" cried out Claw as he heads for the group.

Before he could lay either of his keyblades on Sora, Aya blocks the Chaser with her spear and whips out her ninja sword in time to catch the warrior in the side.

--

Sora could feel the slope of the mountainside getting steeper as he climbed forward. Behind him he could hear the sound of weapons clashing and magic spells executing in the midst of the forestry. His heart wanted so much to turn back and help the girl, but he realizes this is one battle he cannot fight. With a burst of strength he rushes forward to get as far away from the fighting as he can. Everyone had begun holding hands to get up the mountain which was slowly becoming vertically challenging to climb by foot. Kairi held out her hand for Sora to take it and become part of the chain. Zack had taken the lead of the group since his physical strength allowed for him to pull the others forward. Riku took up the rear to keep anyone from falling back while Zero is set in the middle should anything go wrong.

The trek seemed to take forever, but the group managed to make it to the top. The mountain was high enough to give them a great view of the island yet low enough to provide them with ample amounts of oxygen to sustain them. Finding a flat spot, the group finally settles down to rest from the action-packed adventure they've just endured.

"Aww, my feet are killing me," groaned Goofy as he plops down on the soft earth.

"I feel dizzy," noted Kairi, trying to maintain her balance.

Sora was quick to help her sit down even though he was feeling a little light-headed himself.

"Careful, now," warned Zack. "At higher altitudes, the slim oxygen level and increased air pressure can take a toll on those inexperienced with mountain climbing. Don't exert yourself too much."

Soon enough, silence overtook the troupe as they waited for the rescue Gummi Ship Cid sent. Kairi had fallen asleep on Sora's shoulder while Riku and Sora struggled to cope with the lower oxygen level.

"This sure is a lot different from the islands," noted Riku.

"Yeah, it is," agreed Sora, recalling his time in the Land of Dragons. "I've only been on a mountain once, but that was only for a short time and it was a little higher than this."

"At least we're all together now," said Riku. "Having adventures like we planned to."

"Yeah, but I never expected to get kidnapped in the process, though," added Sora.

"Yeah," chuckled Riku. "That put a real damper on things."

"Hey!" exclaimed Sora in protest. "You're no better with the whole 'becoming dark' deal."

"That's true," responded Riku. "And this whole time, Kairi's left all alone wondering what happened to us."

"It wasn't really fair to her, was it?" uttered Sora guiltily.

"Well, we're making it up to her now, aren't we?" noted Riku. "Let's make the best of it."

"Yeah…" spoke Sora, looking up at the sky.

Not long after their friendly banter, Sora spots a small spark in the clear blue sky. Soon a discernable colored object comes heading towards them. With relieved elation, Goofy and Donald began jumping up and down to wave the Gummi Ship over to them. Sora gently wakes Kairi as the aerial vehicle swoops down to them and opens its hatch to reveal an ecstatic Yuffie and ever so stoic Leon waiting to help them in.

"Wait, what about Aya?" spoke up Goofy.

"We can't wait any longer," said Leon. "We just barely managed to escape from Heartless on the way here. We can't afford to wait for whatever friend you guys are waiting for. I'm sorry."

"But…" said Sora. He feels a nudge on his leg and looks down to see Mickey smiling optimistically.

"Don't worry, Sora," the mouse king tells him. "Something tells me this won't be the last we'll see of Aya."

"I hope you're right, your majesty," said Sora, going over to enter the Gummi Ship along with the others.

--

"So, this is how it's going to be, is it?" said Claw as he leaps back from another of Aya's swipes.

Aya said nothing as she strikes again with both of her weapons. In this situation, Claw could do nothing but block her attacks. She was much more experienced fighting in this environment then he was and he knew it.

"Aeroga!"

Aya barely managed to evade the gust attack that shot out of Claw's keyblade. Landing clumsily on the sloped ground, she counters with a blast of Firaga from her spear. Using both Jungle King and Circle of Life, the warrior blocks the attack with a round of Reflega, causing dirt and plant life to throw up around him. As soon as everything settled, he lowered his keyblades in time for Aya to attack with her ninja sword point-on. There was no time to dodge the strike as the blade of her sword slid through his armor and pierced his left shoulder. At full force, Aya slams Claw hard into the thick trunk of a tree behind him with the warrior crying out in pain as he went.

"Why…" he uttered softly as blood leaked from his wound. "Traitor…"

Suddenly a light engulfed Aya's sword and changed it into its ethereal green keyblade form, Faith. With her feet planted firmly on the ground, Aya tears the keyblade's point from the warrior, who slumps down weakly. His helmet cracks slightly and falls off his head as a result.

"I joined the Chasers because I thought you all aimed to do what was for the good of all living things," began the girl as blood dripped from the tip of her keyblade. Her eyes had changed back to their normal red-orange hues. "But when I saw the way you guys went about doing it, I just couldn't remain a Chaser anymore."

"Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary," said Claw as he holds his hand over the wound. "You realize that, don't you?"

"Genocides are never necessary except for the good of darkness," argued Aya, her black bangs hanging over her face and concealing her right eye. "To think that, you're no better than the Heartless."

"Isn't that the truth, though?" asked Claw. "We Chasers are just the product of what happens when a Nobody and a Heartless are fused together. All that governs us is logic, not emotions."

"Maybe that is what's wrong with the Chasers," said Aya. "In the end, you're all still Heartless at heart."

"Heh," scoffed Claw as light began to engulf him from below. "Now _that's_ an oxymoron if I ever heard one…"

Aya made no move to keep the Chaser from escaping. She merely stood there and watched as the young man disappeared from sight.

* * *

**A/N:** I was browsing through the North American site for SquareEnix products and Mickey's keyblade was labeled there as Darkside. (Kind of odd since his keyblade's so shiny and bright.) So for now on, his keyblade will be known as Darkside for the duration of this story.


	11. The Long Road

**A/N:** Yeah, sorry for the long wait again. There were a lot of things wrong with this chapter and I wanted to fix all the little messes before I posted it.

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Long Road**

It was silent on the Gummi Ship on the way back to Radiant Garden with good reason. Everyone was downright exhausted from escaping a world where danger was part of daily life and the threat of being killed was commonplace. Kairi had taken residence on a nearby bench, snoozing away with her head on Sora's lap. The Keyblade Master himself was slumped up against the wall, his head hanging perilously over the girl. Goofy and Donald were piled up on the floor near them while Riku opted to nap leaning on an adjacent wall. Even King Mickey was tired enough to just plop down next to the snoring Goofy. The only conscious individuals on the ship were Leon, Yuffie, Zack, and Zero. The latter two were restless despite all that had happen to them. Sitting in the pilot's seat in the cockpit area, Leon had to make sure the Gummi Ship stayed on course while Yuffie sat in the passenger seat next to him to alert him of any Heartless attacks.

In another sector of the ship, Zack was on the floor busy cleaning up the Buster Sword and other necessities to keep the weapon in tip-top shape. Nearby sat Zero with her swords Murasame and Yoshiyuki fully sheathed and set right next to her. She watches her companion with interest as she contemplated in her head the words she wanted voiced.

"Zack…" she began.

"Hmm?" uttered the man in question.

"Do you…" Zero tried to keep it as simple as possible without giving anything away. "Do you remember?"

At that moment, Zack looks up from his work and looks at the girl curiously. "Remember what?"

"Do you remember anything before we joined up?" she clarified simply.

Zack pauses in his sword maintenance to think for a bit. "I remember… Sephiroth going crazy… burning down Nibelheim…" His eyebrows furrowed as he tries to recall farther. "Cloud… Escaping…"

He suddenly raises a hand to his head as a major headache kicks in. Groaning, he rubs his temple to lessen the pain.

"Hmm…" hummed Zero as her question was answered by the scene before her.

Once the headache disappeared, Zack slowly came to the realization that he couldn't remember any farther than that. He wonders why the girl would bring it up so randomly and looks up at her. "Why the sudden curiosity?"

"I was just wondering, that's all," replied Zero matter-of-factly.

"Why wonder?" returned Zack as he began to sharpen the Buster Sword. "You were there, weren't you? You were the other soldier who came with me, Cloud, and Sephiroth to Nibelheim. You saw what happened."

"Yeah," affirmed the girl. "But I can't remember what happened after the… escape…"

"Me neither," affirmed Zack, finishing up the maintenance. "Maybe once we see Cloud, he can fill us in."

At the sound of that, Zack thought he saw Zero react uneasily, but decides it must have been fatigue. Without a word, the girl gets up and goes over to a nearby window to stare out at the passing stars. In all truth and honesty, she actually does remember what happened after Zack and Cloud was captured. She remembers the five years that passed by, during which she became a spy for Avalanche out of hope that it would help the two men escape from the horrible Shinra Mansion. She had managed to aid in their escape by anonymously providing Zack the means to break out of their cells, but from then she couldn't get any closer to the two until they reached Junon. She was glad to meet up with them and even helped them find a ride to Midgar. After that, though, she had to stay behind and slow down the pursuing soldiers.

Why did she do that for two men she barely knew? No, she knew them fairly well. She didn't stand out as a soldier, though her sniping abilities was unmatched by any other soldier and her swordsmanship could rival Sephiroth in terms of speed. She successfully remained low-key while working under Shin-Ra to keep out of the radar of the troublesome Turks. More than anything, she wanted to keep from becoming a member of SOLDIER not just so that her brother in arms, Cloud, wouldn't feel bad but because her father was a member of SOLDIER whom she did not have good relations with. Thinking back on it, Zero admits that she really considered Cloud and Zack to be the brothers she never had, the camaraderie she had always wanted. It was because of that she did anything she could to help them, to protect them. Even if it meant sacrificing her own life.

Glancing over at Zack leaning the Buster Sword up against a nearby wall, Zero could feel her heart drop at the sight of him.

_Was my sacrifice in vain? Cloud survived, but Zack…_

She frowns upon thinking about her options on the matter. No, she couldn't possibly tell him that they were supposed to be dead, that they no longer existed in their own world except only in the Lifestream. Zero knew that he would find out eventually, since now was not the right time; not yet. She will bide her time until it was the right moment to reveal the truth to him. She hopes that he doesn't find out before then, but if he does, she prays that he would discover his light as soon as possible so that the truth won't seem as painful when it does come out.

_I'll stay with you… until you find your light…I promise…brother…_

Suddenly the room was flooded in red light as a blaring alarm resounded throughout the Gummi Ship. All sleeping bodies were rudely awaken from their slumber and scrambled around the now shaky ship in an effort to make sense of what was going on.

"Heartless off the starboard bow!" called out Yuffie as the ship shudders violently as if it was hit with a giant wrecking ball.

"What?" exclaimed Leon in response, not knowing what to make of the girl's outburst.

_Boom!_ The ship leans to the other side from the impact of yet another Heartless attack, causing everyone to be thrown to that side like rag dolls.

"Heartless off the port bow!" called out Yuffie, holding onto whatever was screwed down.

"English, please!" screamed Leon, trying his best to stay on course as he grips the steering wheel with all his might.

"WE'RE BEING ATTACKED ON BOTH SIDES!" Yuffie screamed back.

"THANK YOU!" yelled out Leon as he swerves just in time to avoid a flying Heartless.

"Don't you have any mounted weapons on this ship for a counteroffensive?" Zero shouts at Yuffie.

The ship shakes again as it took on another hit from the Heartless.

"We have three cannons: two on the sides and one in the back," Yuffie shouts back.

Before Zack could protest, Zero nimbly rushes to her feet and heads towards the backside cannon through all the debris that now littered the floor and the shuddering of the ship. As everyone looks on, Donald could have sworn her feet never touched the ground.

Following suit, Riku manages to stumble towards the portside cannon. Seeing this, Sora decides to join him as well, groaning and rubbing his chest as he gets up and makes his way to the starboard side cannon. In the midst of the chaos, he held Kairi close to his body to protect her from being slammed against walls.

Kairi watches sheepishly as her two best friends left her, but Goofy places a hand on her shoulder to reassure her that everything will be fine. Even Donald manages a thumbs-up while Mickey smiles with a nod. Kairi manages a meek smile in return, but deep down she still felt helpless. Even with her own Keyblade, she doesn't feel that she's up to Sora and Riku's level in terms of battle experience. She couldn't even conjure up a simple Reflect spell for Sora back in Isla Nublar. In the end, she was just useless baggage who can't do anything for her friends.

_I really want to help make a difference_, she thought as memories of when she managed to find Riku and Sora came to mind. _Even then, I couldn't do a thing to help them. Should I have stayed back on Destiny Island?_

The thought made her even sadder than before.

--

Setting himself down in the gunner's seat, Riku scans the console to see what does what. As if on cue, he hears Yuffie's energetic voice sound throughout the cockpit.

"All gunners put on your headsets!"

Following the direction of the voice, the teenager picks up the headset, places the earpieces over his ears, and adjusts the mouthpiece. Almost immediately he could hear Sora's voice sounding a bit annoyed.

"Geez, Yuffie, did you have to shout? I already had mine on when you started yelling."

Riku gave a little snicker before Yuffie's voice responds.

"Sorry about that," apologized the girl. "I wasn't sure if you guys were able to find it. Sound out, gunners."

"Rear side gunner confirmed," said Zero.

"Left side gun is ready for action," said Riku.

"I've got the right side gun," said Sora eagerly.

"Okay, for those of you who haven't been on a Gummi ship, the instructions are simple," began Yuffie, speaking quickly and clearly. "If you press the red circle-shaped button on the right part of the console, it'll activate the holographic viewing screen and bring the guns online. You'll see everything that's on the outside of your part of the ship at a 180 degree angle. On each side of the gunner's seat is what looks like a vertical wagon handle. On the inside of each handle is the trigger button. Press one button for single shots, both for rapid fire. The part where your right thumb rests is where the targeting button is. Press down on it to lock onto an enemy and use the trigger buttons to shoot. Unfortunately you can only target on enemy at a time so your best bet is to blast down the Heartless in a torrent of rapid fire. The button under your left thumb is the bomb shooter and it takes some to reload after you fire it. Keep me and each other up to date on your progress and coordinate your attacks when appropriate. Good luck everyone!"

"I've got this covered," Sora spoke smugly into his headset as he focuses his attention on a group of Heartless.

"Oh please," replies Riku as he shoots down several Heartless in a slew of energy blasts. "You forget who it was who used the skyrider to take down dragon Xemnas."

"Which you wouldn't have been able to without _my_ help," adds Sora, taking down one of the big Heartless.

"I could if I wanted to," said Riku.

"Is that a bet?" wonders Sora with a competitive grin.

"I don't know, is it?" answers Riku as he defeats a giant Heartless with a single shot.

"Can we please get back to the original objective at hand, which is to not let this ship crash into another unknown world?" interrupted Zero, who was getting a little irritated by the boys' competitive banter. "Must I remind you that we have people on this ship who need to get to their destination in once piece?"

"Sorry," Sora and Riku apologize meekly for forgetting about Kairi and the others. They shift their attention back to the situation at hand and continue shooting the Heartless.

Suddenly, the situation went from bad to worse as a massively huge shadow that had begun following them a few minutes ago slowly began picking up speed. All of the Heartless around them speedily disappear as the big one neared, giving the impression that this Heartless was not to be taken lightly.

"Uh, guys," spoke up Zero. "I may be the rear side gunner, but I'm sure you can see this as well."

"What the heck is that?" exclaims Riku upon seeing the ominous form of what seemed to be the Heartless to end all Heartless.

Sora's heart sank deep in the pits of his stomach as his blue eyes widen at the sight of the Heartless. He knew too well what it was and that's what made the feeling of fear inside him erupt ten-fold.

"Xehanort's Heartless," he said gravely into his mouthpiece, grimacing as he did so. "His final form."

Though its color scheme appropriately centered on the shade of black, its form was unmistakable. The hulking train-like shape had a monstrous demonic face at the very front that possessed a razor-sharp mouth big enough to swallow their Gummi ship whole. Above that were two organic tiers, one of which Sora once had to enter to save Donald. The second tier contained the master of the Heartless ship attached by a group of cords that allowed him to move about and strike out with his double-edged spear at those who get too close. The blackened form of Xehanort's Heartless looked more like a Shadow now with its blue and black body and recognizable bright yellow eyes that glowed lifelessly. Eyes that seemed to look directly at Sora, sending chills down the boy's spine.

"We can take it, right guys?" spoke up Riku. "It's three against one. No sweat."

Sora knew Xehanort's Heartless stole and manipulated Riku's body into this hideous final form. It wasn't until he defeated Xehanort's Heartless when Riku finally got his body back so Riku luckily never got to see this monstrosity. Despite that, just hearing his friend's words in spite of what happened in the past gave him enough courage to fight back. Gripping the gun handles tightly, Sora locks onto the Heartless and began firing. The others follow suit, but soon saw that although they are damaging the Heartless, it wasn't slowing down in the least.

"This isn't working," spoke up Zero, though she kept firing. "Sora, you seemed to recognize this Heartless. Do you know its weak points?"

"It's been a long time since I last fought it," said Sora, his memory of the fight was a big hazy. "I remember… there were things inside of the Heartless that you have to destroy to weaken it. Then you take out the Heartless at the very top."

"Inside?" spoke up Yuffie.

Back at the main section of the ship where the cockpit area was, Yuffie had brought up a rearview screen and all eyes were on the giant Heartless. She also connected all the gunners' audio to the speakers so everyone would hear their status.

"If the weak points are inside the Heartless, I don't think we'll be able to defeat it from out here," Zero said into her headset's mouthpiece. "This means we'll have to fly right into the belly of the beast."

"No! Don't do that!" exclaims Sora suddenly, surprising everyone. Realizing what he had just done, the teenage boy takes a step back. "Sorry, everyone. I just…"

Donald taps Yuffie's leg and motions for her to give him her headset. Holding the mouthpiece to his bill, the mage starts to talk.

"Sora, I understand what you're trying to say," he began and looks out at the others. "You, Goofy, and I fought Xehanort's Heartless on our own and managed to defeat him. However, the same may not be if we were to use the whole Gummi ship to take it down, especially since the weak points of this Heartless may not be the same as Xehanort's Heartless."

"I see what you mean," said Leon, talking into his own headset's mouthpiece. "We'd be risking everyone on board if we try a maneuver like that."

"And there's no way we can just fly out and fight like we did before," added Goofy. "There's no air in the pathways between worlds. We'd all suffocate, plus we don't know if we can even fly in this environment."

"I hear ya," said Mickey. "But in any case, we have to defeat this Heartless. We can't let it follow us all the way to Radiant Garden. Who knows what it would do."

"Uh, I don't mean to interrupt, but," spoke up Zack motioning over to where Kairi was. "I think there's something wrong with the girl. She's been crying nonstop ever since we saw that Heartless."

Kairi began to suffer from a major headache as soon as the massive Heartless appeared. When Yuffie brought up the rearview screen, the sight of the Heartless made the headache worse and memories began flooding Kairi's head in droves. The pain was too much for the girl to bear as she collapsed on the floor leaning over her knees and began to sob quietly and uncontrollably.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" asks Goofy as he rushes to the girl's side.

"What's wrong with Kairi?" exclaims Sora as he lapsed in his onslaught. During this brief moment, the Heartless managed to hit the right side of the Gummi ship, making it and everyone inside shake from the impact.

"Sora, focus!" Zero yells out.

"But Kairi's in trouble!" said Sora.

"I know how you feel, Sora," said Riku, never letting up on his firing. "But we can't help her right now."

"Let Zack and the others handle it and have faith," said Zero. "We have to do our part and keep the ship from going down."

"Dang it!" Sora yells out in total frustration. He knew he had to keep firing yet at the same time he wanted to be right at Kairi's side. Clenching the gun handles tightly, he glares angrily at the figure on top of the Heartless.

_You_, he thought. _It all started with YOU_.

Without thinking, Sora presses the bomb trigger and sends an energy bomb right at the figure. Upon impact, the Heartless eased on its onslaught as it roars out in pain and surprise.

"Sora found its weak point!" exclaims Zero. "Everyone aim for the figure!"

"Nice one, Sora!" complimented Riku as he focuses his barrage towards the new target.

The Heartless had stopped firing at the Gummi ship and was now focusing its attention on trying to defend its "master." Roaring tremendously, it began rushing at the ship with its mouth gaped open to swallow them up. Zero immediately saw a glow within its jaws and tells Sora and Riku to fire at it, thereby exposing another weak point. With that inner organ destroyed, the Heartless opens up its middle tier and began gathering energy there. Recognizing it as a powerful attack, Zero instructs the boys to aim their bombs and lasers at the center of the tier where light was gathering. With each passing minute the gunners continued shooting, hoping against all hope that they will destroy it before it unleashes its attack. After what seemed like forever, the Heartless finally began to implode on itself and slowly dissolves away from the bottom up. When the figure at the top finally fades away, a single heart was left to float up and away into the distance. At the same time, the headache Kairi had been suffering with suddenly melted away.

Sighing with relief, Sora threw off his headset and ran straight for Kairi who was drying her tears with a tissue provided by Goofy. Seeing that she was alright, the boy couldn't help but hug her with all his might, feeling as if letting go would make her disappear or worse. Both Zero and Riku came back in time to see the two of them embrace each other like never before.

Meanwhile, back at the pilot's seat, Leon began wondering what he was thinking when he volunteered for this mission in the first place.

_I just got my Gummi Ship license yesterday._

--

It was after noon in Radiant Garden as the Gummi Ship comes coaxing to a stop. Cid was waiting there along with Merlin to meet the tired travelers off the ship. The hatch opens up and Yuffie gives a yawn as she emerged from the ship followed by Leon, who also seemed a little baggy-eyed. Next came Sora, then Kairi, Riku, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald, all equally looking as if lacking a decently comfortable amount of sleep. Zack and Zero were the last ones to disembark before Chip and Dale quickly scurries aboard with Cid coming right after and maneuver it to the new Gummi Ship port near the rebuilt Hollow Bastion castle.

"Glad to see you all made it in one piece," greeted Cid. He turns to Leon, who passes by him half-heartedly. "You look like a mess."

Leon grumbles in response as he heads towards his house and to the oh-so-wonderfully-soft bed that he'll never take for granted ever again. He underestimated Sora, Donald, and Goofy's ability to pilot a Gummi Ship through the Heartless-filled pathways between the worlds. Only a person as energetic and enduring as those three can handle the new stress-invoking hardships that now went hand-in-hand with traveling to other worlds.

"Goodness, you fellows and ladies look terrible!"

With a wave of his wand, Merlin casts Curaga on them all, which eased their pains but not their aches.

"Sorry, I wish we had a means to carry you all to the castle, but for the time being you'll have to walk," he tells them.

"I'll stay with you to make sure they make it there without collapsing," said Yuffie, despite being a bit tired herself.

"Thank you, Yuffie," said Merlin. "I'd teleport you all, but I haven't figured that spell out just yet."

"Yeah, Merlin tested his teleport spell on Cid and instead of transporting him to the Gummi Ship hangar, he got teleported right onto a ledge on the castle," explained Yuffie with a giggle. "Took us a while to get him down from there. Cid wasn't too happy about the whole thing."

Sora gave a chuckle as he imagined the horrified look on Cid's face. He turns to Kairi and the chuckling died down instantly. The girl didn't speak at all the rest of the trip there and when Sora or Riku ask what happened, she simply shakes her head and looks down towards the ground.

After thirty minutes of walking, which seemed like forever to the fatigued individuals, the group finally made it to the outer area of the castle. Sora notes that it looked a lot different now that the pathways leading up to the castle was rebuilt without all the construction work scattered about. Almost as soon as they emerged from the bailey, Riku quickly summons Way to the Dawn to deflect something metallic that was heading straight for Sora. The group stops right in their tracks as Riku stands before them with his Keyblade ready. The metallic object had flown back to a figure that fell and landed in front of the group with ease. Upon further investigation, Sora and Riku could see that it was a girl around Riku's age wielding a pair of strange weapons, the likes the two have never seen before. Sora thought they might be Keyblades since their shapes suggest that they would be if the hook at the ends were of a different appearance.

"Who are you?" asks Riku, moving his body into his fight stance.

"I should be asking _you_ that," answers the girl standing in her own fight stance. "Intruders."

The girl was slim yet well-built, her body shape evident through her fitting blue jeans and fitting green sleeveless shirt. A black belt with a silver buckle lay wrapped around her waist, more likely functioning to keep her weapons at her side rather than to keep her pants up. One smaller belt lay wrapped around her right leg while another one occupies her upper left arm. On each pale-skinned hand she wore black finger gloves while the upper part of her body was covered in a white unbuttoned sleeved shirt with the collar raised. Looking at her, the most noticeable part of her would be her long black hair, whose bangs obscure her eyes along with the upper half of her face.

Before Riku could say a word a black blur ran past him and, before anyone could think, Yuffie was standing before the older girl with arms out at her sides as if to defend the group with her own body.

"Wait, Rift," she yells out. "They're not intruders, they're friends."

"But they have the taint of darkness on them," argued the girl.

"They're the good guys, though," assures Yuffie. "They're not here with the Heartless."

Rift contemplated the situation for a few minutes before deciding to withdraw her weapons, hanging one each on a fastener on her sides. Seeing this, Riku dismisses his Keyblades and stands at ease. Sighing in relief, Yuffie grabs Rift's arm and leads her over to the group.

"Everyone, this is Rift," she tells them. "She's been in Radiant Garden ever since we began construction, but you never had a chance to meet her before because of all the chaos that was going on back then."

"Uh, nice to meet you," Sora greeted with a nervous wave of his hand, feeling a little scared since he didn't see or hear her weapon coming at him at all.

"Yeah," was all Rift said to him in reply with her head hanging.

"Aren't you going to say sorry?" said Donald with an irked tone. "You almost hit my friend here."

"I did?" said the teenage girl, never once taking her gaze off the ground.

"Of course you did!" said Donald with fits clenched. "What are you, blind?"

Upon hearing that, Yuffie gave a small gasp but did nothing more. All eyes fell on Rift who didn't notice the sudden change of attention.

"I see," spoke up Riku. "That's why you never looked at us."

"Gawrsh, we didn't know you were really blind," said Goofy. "We didn't mean to offend you."

"It's fine," assures Rift. "I've been blind for a long time now. It's something I'm used to."

"Well, just because you're used to it, that doesn't mean it's okay," said Mickey.

"And it's not like Rift's totally blind," added Yuffie. "Rift's special. She can see anything that's tainted with darkness."

"That's pretty much the same thing as being blind, isn't it?" chuckles Rift.

"But you can still see somewhat, right?" argued Yuffie.

"Yuffie, I told you before," began Rift. "Being blind doesn't make me weak. I've learned to live with it. Besides, don't you have other things to worry about instead of me?"

"Oh yes, yes of course," spoke up Merlin. "We have to escort our friends to the new guest room to rest. I don't know how much longer they can stay on their feet."

"Well, I don't want to get in your guys' way any longer so I'll be going now," said Rift. "And, sorry to whoever I tried to behead."

"Uh, no… problem…" Sora laughs nervously.

Entering the castle doors, which had been rebuilt like the ones Sora entered when he first came to Hollow Bastion, Yuffie and Merlin took the group to the grand hall where the stairs were. There they ascend the right set of stairs leading to a newly built lift that took them up through a new section of the castle. Along the way, they passed by windows that allowed them to look out over the town below where residents were hustling and bustling about in their daily lives now that Radiant Garden was nearing complete restoration. Sora, Donald, and Goofy couldn't help but smile that they did a part in helping this world get to the state it is in now.

The lift stops softly and everyone came out onto another set of stairs that went up to a floor that lead to the guest rooms. As they walk down the hall, Sora gave a yelp of surprise when he spied a strange demonic-looking statue sitting outside in one of the balconies.

"What are those?" he asks.

"Oh, that's one of the gargoyles," said Yuffie. "We found a lot of them in a blocked off chamber in Maleficent's Hollow Bastion castle."

"Ever since we put them up around the castle, the Heartless stopped coming in," noted Merlin. "We're not sure if it's because they look scary or because the statues have some sort of power to keep darkness away. What I've been able to find out, though, is that they've been around at least since Ansem the Wise became ruler of Radiant Garden."

"I can see why they work," said Zack. Then he added playfully. "Maybe if you put Zero out there with them, all the Heartless will disappear from this world altogether."

At the sound of that, Zero turns and gives the man her patented death glare.

"By the way, what kind of weapon does Rift use?" spoke up Riku. "I've never seen anything like those, except for Keyblades."

"They're called hook swords," answers Yuffie. "They're shaped like Keyblades but work a lot differently and come in pairs. Rift's the only person I know of who can use them singularly."

"Huh, interesting," responded Riku.

As Yuffie and Merlin lead the group on, Sora looks over at Kairi who had latched onto his right arm ever since Riku deflected Rift's weapon. He could feel her shudder a bit as they walked, but couldn't bring himself to ask her what happened. He mentally chastises himself for not being there for her, but knew that there wasn't anything he could do in that situation. All he could do at this point is just stay by her side whenever he can and hope that eventually she'll tell him what happened.

At last the group came to one of two particular doors. Before they could move on, Yuffie stops them to lay down the rules.

"Here's the guestrooms," she says. "They both have bunk beds so we can fit 8 guests in each room. For the time being, one of these is for teenagers and the other is for the older people. Since we don't have our own houses yet, everyone on the restoration committee sleep here." She points to one door. "This is where I sleep so that means Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Zero are with me. The rest of you have to go in the other room with Leon and Aerith."

"Aerith?" exclaims Zack curiously.

"Oh, yeah, you'll meet her later," assures Yuffie. "She couldn't be with us today since she's busy helping out with the restoration and all."

"Aerith…" repeated Zack. "Sounds like a nice girl. I can't wait to meet her."

With the matter of roommates settled, everyone was eager to get to bed. Upon entering the room, which was a lot larger than they thought, the teenagers were greeted with four bunk beds: one on each side of the room with the last two on the back. All were up against the wall on their side as to create a bigger space in the center of the room where a wooden dining-room like table stood with eight chairs, two on each side. Elegant wood bureaus painted in a soft peach pigment sat on one end of each bunk bed with two huge closets near the ones in the back. The white mattresses, pillows, and blankets look like soft marshmallows that begged to be slept on.

"Dibs on the top bunk!" shouted Riku as he leaps up onto one of the beds. "Hello pillow, meet my head."

"Hey, no fair!" said Sora. "I want the top bunk."

"You _both_ can get top bunks," Yuffie sighs with a smile. "There _are_ four bunk beds. We don't have to use just three of them."

Zero thought to herself for a few minutes before selecting the bottom bunk on one of the beds deemed to be on the girls' side of the room. Yuffie follows soon after, plopping herself on the top bunk of the other bed which is on the same side. Sora was about to head to the other top bunk on the boys' side when he remembered that Kairi was still hugging his arm.

"Come on, Kairi," he tells her gently. "A good night's sleep will make you feel better."

For the first time since they arrived Kairi looks up at Sora, sadness and hurt brimming in her blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs to him and then rushes over to sleep on the bottom bunk of Yuffie's bed.

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, I just can't picture Leon/Squall being able to pilot a ship of any kind, let alone a Gummi Ship, since in FFVIII he never touches the driver's seat in any flying vehicle. (Which explains the epic lack of navigational terms in his vocabulary.) And yay for more original characters! (By the way, I came up with Rift long before I saw Avatar: The Last Airbender so it's totally coincidence, I swear!)

Sorry if the room arrangement is hard to picture. It's invisibly divided down the middle: girls on the left half with guys on the right half. Yuffie and Kairi share one bunk bed while Zero, Sora, and Riku all have their own bunk beds.


	12. Of Nightmares and Dreams

**A/N:** I've been in a good story mood lately so I present to you the next chapter. :)

* * *

**Chapter 12: Of Nightmares and Dreams**

A little blonde-haired girl around the age of ten was running quickly through the long wide corridors of a majestic castle with panic evident in her fiery orange eyes. Her magenta shorts flows furiously around her legs as she ran, her white tank top lined with magenta stable on her petite form. Small fists were tightly clenched beneath wristbands of red as she brings one hand up to quickly brush some strands of her short golden hair out of her eyes. Over and over in her mind, a single train of thought refused to leave her in peace. Even at such a young age, many people have regarded her as being wise beyond her years. The little girl didn't know whether to consider her uniqueness a blessing or a curse. But now, she doubts that even she could fix what is breaking right at this moment.

_This can't be happening!_

All around her, her mightily standing home was breaking apart. Despite the ongoing destruction occurring before her eyes, the girl continued onward toward her intended destination. Just earlier she had seen the door she had always seen when she was younger, the door that always remained closed. What made this particular visit to the mysterious door different was that it was now opened. And standing there was the person who opened it.

_Xehanort…_

The little girl couldn't fathom how it was that the man was able to open the door which she presumed to be a part of the castle's interior design. She still thought that even though her touch had caused it to glow brightly under her petite palms. But now that it was open, an ominous feeling weighed heavily on her heart.

_Father, I hope that you are all right. I'm sorry; you're not the one I'm looking for right now._

The girl tries hard to hold back her guilty tears as she soon began approaching a familiar pair of doors. Breaking through, she ended up in a room where a small form lay huddled under a table. The room was decorated with the appeal of a little girl in mind, though the girl knew that this wasn't her room to call her own. It belonged to someone else, someone more important to her as of that moment.

"Kairi!"

"Sareth?"

Sareth dashes over to the redhead, who was one year younger than her and frightened out of her mind. "Kairi! Are you all right?"

"Sareth, I can't find my grandmother!" The red-haired little girl whimpered as tears threatened to burst out of her clear blue eyes.

The blonde-haired girl couldn't say a thing as she quickly grabs hold of Kairi's hand and races out of there. "I'm sure your grandmother is just fine. Right now we need to get out of the castle."

"What's happening, Sareth?"

"Something bad, Kairi. Something very bad."

Sareth glances out of the passing windows to see the most horrendous sight. Tsunamis of water were washing over the towns below the castle and rising fast. She tears her eyes away from the windows and uses her free hand to feel the ruby amulet that hung on her necklace. With a sigh of relief, Sareth and Kairi manage to make their way to the entrance of the castle. Outside, huge planks of wood floated on the water's surface, a sorrowful sight that told them that many lives have already been lost.

"Sareth, I'm scared."

The older little girl looks down at her friend and forces a smile. "Don't worry, Kairi. Nothing bad will happen to you."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. I _can_ use magic after all."

However, the amulet that Sareth possessed didn't belong to her at all. It had belonged to her mother who was claimed by the darkness years ago.

_Mother, I miss you so much. I wish you were here. I'm so lost._

Just then, the blonde-haired little girl hears a set of footsteps approach them from behind. Quickly, she moves the other girl behind her as she wraps her strong right arm around and lays her hand on the jeweled surface of the amulet.

"Princess of Heart, where are you going?"

A frown found itself on Sareth's face as she glares at the man before them. "Xehanort."

"It's a bit dangerous out here for you two to be wandering around," asserted the white-haired man, still sporting the lab coat he always wore. With an evil smile, he takes a step towards them.

Sareth whips out her hand, making the man stop in his tracks. "Why did you do all of this?"

"My princess, I merely wish to find the Key," answered Xehanort nonchalantly. "And you will be the one who will find it."

"You're not going to do _anything_ with me!" Sareth yells out as gathered light energy into her hand. "What have you done with my father?"

Holding out his hand, Xehanort gathers dark energy within his grasp and shot it out when the little girl attacks with a beam of light that was the thickness of half her size. Sareth was strong, but not strong enough to withstand such a counterattack. With a cry, she flew back hard onto a large floating wooden platform.

"Sareth!" The redhead cries out as she jumped onto the floating wood and ran to her fallen friend.

Groaning, Sareth tries to get up letting Kairi support her but falls to the wooden planks. She wasn't strong enough to take on the man and more of her world was falling apart around them. Not even the great powers of light bestowed on her because she is a Princess of Heart could help her win this losing fight. Thinking only of her friend's well-being, Sareth could only think of one thing to save her.

"Kairi, take my hand," she commands gently as she holds up her right hand.

"Sareth?" exclaimed Kairi. "I… I don't…"

"Take my hand, Kairi," repeated the blonde-haired girl as her hand stretches out further to take the other girl's.

Hesitantly, Kairi takes hold of her friend's hand and almost instantly she can feel a rush of energy pour into her being. With wide blue eyes, she watches as a golden glow emanated from Sareth's body and flows to her.

_My Light, hear me. Protect Kairi with all your might. Take her somewhere far where she will be safe from the darkness._

Xehanort immediately saw what was going on and he rushes towards the girls in a panic. Once the transfer was complete, Sareth smiles as she places her palm on the floor and cuts the plank of wood between her and Kairi. The piercing light magic broke through the platform and a sizable piece of wood broke off and took Kairi with it. The redhead fell back from the force and could do nothing but look on and reach out at her fallen friend as she floated away.

"Sareth!" cries out Kairi with tears literally raining down her petite face. "Please, Sareth! Don't leave me! Sareth!"

"I'm sorry, Kairi," apologized the blonde as a portal of darkness formed beneath her little being and slowly engulfed her into its depths. "We'll meet again, Kairi. I promise."

"Sareth! Sareth!"

_Sareth…_

Kairi awoke with a start, her body drenched in nervous sweat. She holds a hand up to her head as she tries to shake the vividness of the dream out of her mind and soon realizes that she had been crying in her sleep. Pulling her blanket around her, she wipes away the tears and shudders from the cool of the night as she stared out into the darkness around her.

"Huh?"

Leaking beneath the door of her room was a pale light that affirmed to her that she was in a room and not the darkest depths of darkness. With a relieved sigh, the redhead gets out of bed and heads for the door, being careful not to disturb the two boys and two girls fast asleep in the other beds. She emerges out into the hallway of Hollow Bastion castle and walks toward the library where there was a balcony where she could go to get her mind sorted out. As she walked along, she gazes out at the bright full moon shining its light outside. She wonders what her dream could mean and where the blonde-haired girl in it disappeared to. She closes her eyes and tries to envision that girl again, but all she was greeted with was more darkness. Then, slowly but surely, the image of a blonde girl fades into view. It wasn't the girl from the dream, but someone just as familiar.

"Naminé?"

Hearing her name, Naminé turns around to face her other half.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"Why?" wonders Kairi.

As if on cue, heavy chains and broken links appeared all around both girls. Kairi was caught off guard and her blue eyes widen in surprise at the desolate sight around her.

"A person's memories are like links on a chain," began Naminé. "With each new memory made, a new link is added to the chain. However…" She squats down and lays a hand on a broken link. "When a memory is forgotten or erased, the chain is broken and the link is severed from the line."

"Are you saying all of these…" said Kairi, her eyes scanning all the broken chains and links. "Are my memories?"

"I…" Naminé utters hesitantly, standing up to face the girl. "I was trying to piece your memories back together. That dream you just had was the result of my efforts so far."

"That… was a memory?" breathed Kairi, bringing a hand up to her head. "It… But… why now? Why didn't they appear sooner?"

"You only had a simple chain before, made up of memories you've made since you came to Destiny Islands and met Sora and Riku," explained Naminé. "It was only recently when all these chains and links came to light, when that Heartless appeared."

"The Heartless?" wondered Kairi.

"That memory you saw when it appeared…" spoke up Naminé.

"No, I don't want to talk about it," affirmed Kairi, closing her eyes and turning her head away. She wraps her arms around herself as a chill went down her spine. "I _really_ don't want to talk about it."

"I see," replied Naminé sadly. "Would you like me to stop?"

Kairi thought about it for a few minutes as complete and utter silence passes between the two.

"No, I want you to continue," she said at last. "I want to remember, no matter how painful it is. I _have_ to remember."

Naminé gently clasps her hands together and looks down. "I see."

Kairi slowly approaches her Nobody and stops before the girl. "Will I keep having the dreams?"

Naminé looks at her and nods in affirmation. "It's unavoidable."

"…I see," said Kairi, not feeling too happy about the situation.

"Do you still want me to continue?" asked Naminé.

Another period of silence passed before Kairi made her decision.

"Yeah."

--

It was late morning when Riku visited the now completed bailey near the foot of the castle. The last structures of the old Hollow Bastion castle had finally been dismantled, leaving an empty dry bluish abyss that seemed to stretch on forever. A passing breeze blew through the bailey, ruffling Riku's long white hair as he leaned upon the stone ledge of the glassless window of the bailey. So lost was he in his own thoughts that he failed to notice a petite figure slowly creeping up behind him. Before he knew what hit him, a pair of arms suddenly wrap around his neck as his body was suddenly bearing the weight of another person. He was about to toss the person through the bailey's window in reaction when he heard a familiar cheery voice ring through the bailey.

"Good morning!"

Riku gave a sigh as the person leapt off his back. Turning around, he stood face to face—or as close as being face to face with a shorter person as you can get—with none other than Yuffie Kisaragi.

"I never figured you as a morning person," said Yuffie, a big grin plastered on her face like no tomorrow.

"I'm not; I just couldn't sleep any longer," replied Riku matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. "Don't sneak up on me like that again. I almost threw you through the window."

"As if you could," scoffed the ninja-like girl, standing akimbo with her fists on her hips. "I'd just wiggle my way back in if you tried."

A sly grin found itself on Riku's face upon hearing that. "Is that a challenge?"

Yuffie's eyes went wide as she backs away from the teenage boy. "Hey, hey! Don't you even dare!"

"Dare what?" Riku asks innocently as he steps towards the girl.

"You know what!" Yuffie responds back as she continued to edge backwards.

"Hey, you said you could get back in if I tried to toss you out," said Riku, never letting up on his walking pace. "I just want to know if that's true."

"Well, there's no need to prove it," uttered Yuffie nervously. "Besides, you wouldn't really throw me out of the bailey, would you?"

Suddenly, Yuffie ran out of ground as her back hit the opposite wall. Her heart began beating faster and faster as the boy came up to her and lays a hand on the wall.

"Do you really want to know?" he said as his piercing aquamarine eyes met her grey eyes, their faces mere centimeters away from each other.

It was undetermined who made the first move. Perhaps it was Yuffie who kissed him or maybe Riku leaned in for the infamous mouth-to-mouth. All that can be agreed upon is that it just happened, and that it ended disappointedly as soon as it happened.

The two hesitantly pull away from each other and stood there blushing in the bailey for a good long time.

"So…" spoke up Yuffie finally.

"So…" responded Riku in turn, putting his hands into his pockets. "This was where we met last year, yeah?"

"Where we met or where you kidnapped me?" laughed Yuffie, managing a smile.

"I didn't kidnap you," argued Riku, trying his hardest not to pout.

"Yeah, you didn't," said Yuffie, sarcasm lining every word. "You simply put your hand over my mouth and dragged me into the shadows when I wasn't looking."

"I see it more as pulling you to the side without you screaming bloody murder on me," articulated Riku quite eloquently.

"Yeah right," countered Yuffie. "I would've beaten the snot outta you."

"No kidding," chuckled Riku. "You almost took out my kneecaps."

"Serves you right for sneaking up on me," huffed Yuffie indignantly. "Now we're even."

"I guess we are," affirmed Riku.

Another long period of silence laid over them like thick molasses.

"So…"

"So…"

"You look better without that weird black coat and blindfold," said Yuffie, scratching her head nervously while mustering a meek smile.

"Uh, thanks," replied Riku. "And thanks…. for helping me out with the Ansem Reports. I never would've found out about the fake Ansem if it wasn't for you."

"Uh, it's no problem," uttered Yuffie, turning her gaze downward towards her boot-like shoes. "It's the least I could do after you saved my skin from that Heartless."

"Yeah…"

"Uh-huh…"

"I'm, uh, gonna go see if Sora and Kairi are awake yet," said Riku, pointing a thumb back to the castle.

"And I need to meet up with the restoration committee," said Yuffie, nodding her head in the opposite direction.

With simple waves of goodbye, the two went their separate ways, but not without satisfied smiles on their faces as they went.

* * *

**A/N:** I just put the "tease" in "teaser," don't I? evil laughter


	13. Broken

**A/N:** **WARNING!** This chapter contains a slight amount of spoilers from the Kingdom Hearts manga. Read at your own risk!! Also, all anti- SoraxKairi and anti- RikuxYuffie fanatics are advised to cease reading this fiction and seek out other stories.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Broken**

_Left…_

_Left…_

_Left…_

_Right…_

_Left…_

_Hmm… looks like another dead end…Again…._

Zack scratches his head as he gradually came to realize that he was totally and utterly lost in the maze of hallways that make up the expansive Hollow Bastion castle. It was early afternoon in Radiant Garden and already Zack was causing problems for himself.

_Maybe I should've just stayed in my room like Zero suggested_, thought Zack. _Speaking of which, where the heck __**is**__ that girl?_

Earlier that morning, Zack had woken up to an empty guest room. On Zero's very wise suggestion, he had showered and gotten his clothes washed by the resident workers. She later told him to stay in his room until Cid or Yuffie came to fetch him, but he was too impatient to wait for either one of them. After a few squats to relieve some of his built-up energy, Zack came bounding out into the hallway with sword on back and began wandering through the corridors. It never occurred to him that he would get lost until his stomach practically roared at him for breakfast, which he had yet to have. During his little adventure, he went through many doors, most of which went to rooms that were either still under construction or contained one or two Heartless. Those with Heartless he quickly dispatched the little creatures, although those rooms tend to not fare well in the process.

_I'll just say that the Heartless did it_, thought Zack with a nervous grin. _The huge slash marks on the walls can't be __**that**__ noticeable, right?_

Technically, when one gets lost, one should stay in one place until a search party has determined the location of the lost one. However, Zack decides that he would be found eventually anyways so staying in one spot in a place like this was not going to get him anywhere, literally. Spying another door, he turns the knob and goes through without a second thought.

On the other side of the door, Zack came face to face with books upon hundreds of books.

_Finally_, he thought with a sigh. _An actual room!_

And it wasn't just any room in the castle; it was the one and only library, its bookcases nearly filled to the brim with dozens of volumes of possibly every piece of text ever written. It looked like it was in the process of being reorganized, since there were stacks upon stacks of books on the floor and the scattered tables and chairs.

"Hello!" shouted Zack from what appears to be the second floor balcony of the place which overlooked the first floor. "Is anyone here? I'm kind of lost."

Soon after shouting, he hears shuffling noises that came from down below. Scanning quickly, he discovers a set of stairs to his right and makes his way down the carpeted steps towards the noise.

"Is there someone here?" he shouts again.

"Yes! Yes, there is!"

From the sound of the voice, it seems there was a woman somewhere nearby. Slowly and carefully, Zack navigates his way through the stacks of books and seemingly wayward wooden bookcases in search of the source of the voice.

"Is that you, Leon?" shouted the voice.

"No, no, it's one of the guests," replied Zack, a slight chuckle in his voice as he almost trips over a 10-centimeter thick encyclopedia. "A guest that got too curious for his own good."

"Oh!" responded the voice, seemingly understanding of his situation. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Yeah, I don't think so," replied Zack, nearly knocking over a stack of novels. "I'm not staying here for long."

"That's a real shame," said the voice. "It's really nice here."

"So I see," grunted Zack as he leapt over a table. Turning a corner, he almost crashes right into a woman with long brown hair and the most beautiful emerald eyes any living soul could ever possess.

"Oh!" exclaimed the woman in surprise, bringing a hand up to her mouth as her other arm clutched a couple of books. "You've found me at last, I see."

"Yeah…" replied Zack, apparently transfixed on the woman.

"Hi, I'm Aerith," the woman holds out her free hand in greeting. "Aerith Gainsborough."

"I'm… Zack…Fair…" uttered Zack as he takes the woman's hand and shakes it in greeting. "Aerith, huh? That's a nice name."

Aerith lets out a small giggle. "So is Zack Fair."

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of my last name," chuckles Zack. "My creator must've had the time of his life having me born into a family with Fair as their last name."

"I think Fair suits you just fine," said Aerith with a smile.

"So, anyways," said Zack, really wanting to change the subject to anything other than the ridiculousness of his last name. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just reorganizing the library so that people would find things a little easier," answered Aerith. "We transferred the books here pretty quickly so we didn't have time to sort them out properly."

"And you're doing this all by yourself?" wondered Zack, raising an eyebrow questionably.

"Oh goodness, no!" chuckles Aerith. "There are others doing this besides me. I'm just in charge of a couple of sections, that's all."

"I see," said Zack. "Well, would you mind me helping out a bit?"

"Of course not," replied Aerith, smiling sweetly. "The more the merrier!"

Grinning happily, Zack went to set his sword leaning against a nearby empty wall and began sorting through a stack of books. Not soon after he started did Aerith notice his monstrous weapon.

"Oh, that's Cloud's sword, isn't it?" she wondered.

"You know Cloud, too?" responded Zack as he turned to look at her.

Aerith nods in affirmation. "He left a while back, though. I haven't seen him since, him and Tifa."

"Tifa was here, too?" Zack's heart nearly leapt to his throat. "I didn't realize so many friends from my world managed to survive."

"Cloud and Tifa are from your world?" said Aerith, sliding a book onto a shelf.

"Yeah," answered Zack in disbelief, taking a book and putting it in its proper place on another shelf. "Our homeworld… it wasn't the greatest, but it was… still home, you know? We all were born and raised there and everything."

"I think everyone has a special connection to their homeworld," spoke Aerith, picking up three books from a stack. "I was born and raised in Radiant Garden. When the darkness came and took over my world, Cid rescued Leon, Yuffie, and me and brought us all to a place called Traverse Town. I can't begin to describe the joy we felt when we reclaimed Radiant Garden after Sora dispelled the darkness from here."

"Wow," breathed Zack upon hearing her story. "That kid is really something, isn't he? I never figured he could have that power when I first saw him."

"He _is_ the Keyblade Master, after all," Aerith declared with a smile.

Carefully handling a thick book, Zack lays a solemn hand on it before placing it on its proper place on a shelf. "I wonder if I can do the same for my world."

"Sora saved many worlds in the past," said Aerith. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help save yours."

"Yeah…" said Zack in a low voice that was close to a whisper as memories of the places he'd been to on his homeworld began surfacing in his mind.

Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a low, rumbling growl. A blush invaded his face as he quickly covers his stomach with one hand. Behind him, Aerith lets out a giggle and puts down a stack of books.

"Heh, sorry," apologized Zack nervously, turning around to face the woman. "I never got to eat breakfast."

"Well we can't have you collapsing on the library floor," said Aerith, crossing her arms loosely. "It'd be pretty troublesome for Leon and Cid to have to drag you out through the valley of books to the apothecary."

"I wouldn't want that," chuckles Zack with a grin.

"Follow me," said Aerith, holding out her hand. "I'll take you to the dining hall. It's almost lunchtime anyhow so we might as well break here for now."

Nodding in agreement, Zack puts the Buster Sword back on his back and follows the woman out of the library. As the two of them maneuvered through the tall bookcases, up on the second floor balcony stood Zero, silently watching. She closes her eyes to sigh in relief and turns around to disappear through the door.

--

Riku carefully turned the knob of the room and slowly opened the door in case his friends were still sleeping. When he finally entered the well-lit room, everybody was gone except for Sora who sat on the bottom bed of his bunk seemingly lost in his thoughts. Riku has known the boy his entire life and usually when Sora is seriously lost in thought like that, it meant trouble. He approaches his friend cautiously, not wanting to surprise him.

"Sora?"

No response.

"Are you allright?" wondered Riku. "You're kind of creeping me out, sitting there in one place all quiet like that."

A few minutes passed before the boy in question finally responded.

"She was crying in her sleep, Riku," said Sora, sounding more depressed than he should. "She cried in her sleep, and she still won't tell me what happened on the Gummi Ship."

Riku scratches his head, unsure of what to say to his best friend.

"Give her time," he tells him after some thought. "She's been through a lot."

"I feel so helpless," groaned Sora, hanging his head and gazing downward at the floor. "I want to help her, but I don't know how. I feel so frustrated at myself."

"There's no point worrying about things that are out of your control," responds Riku, crossing his arms and leaning against the bunk bed frame. "You just have to do what you can and hope for the best."

Things quieted down again, which bothered Riku quite a bit. He was used to silence, but not when around the usually upbeat Sora who's always got something to chatter about. He couldn't stand it.

"So, where are everyone?" he asks in an effort to keep the silence to a minimum.

"Donald and Goofy went back to their world with King Mickey," answered Sora flatly. "Kairi and Zero left with a while ago to get breakfast." With that he fell quiet again, mostly because he didn't want to talk anymore and partly because he didn't know what happened with Leon and Zack, whom have both disappeared on their own accord without him knowing.

Riku lets out an exasperated sigh upon hearing the melancholy tone in his friend's voice. That was it, he had to do something. He rolls his eyes, feeling a mixture of surprise and awkwardness that befell one who unexpectedly lost a bet that he was sure he'd win. He couldn't believe that the day has finally come when _he_ had to be the one to cheer _Sora_ up of all people when it's usually the other way around. Somewhere, Lady Fate is having the time of her life as she watches this irony unfold.

"R-Riku?! What—!"

Riku had roughly grabbed the back collar of Sora's hoodie and was now dragging the boy away from the bed and towards the door. Using his free left hand, Riku flings open the door, switches the lights off, and shuts the door behind them as soon as they were out. With one thrust, he pushes Sora into the middle of the carpeted, sunlit corridor. The younger teenage boy stumbled a bit before he found his footing and turns to look at his friend with a look of utter disbelief on his face at what just happened.

"Look, I'm not about to stand there and watch you turn into another me," said Riku, placing a hand on his hip. "No matter what you or I do, Kairi is not going to tell us anything until she's ready to. You might as well forget about it and just wait until she comes around. In the meantime, we still have the Chasers to worry about, on top of finding your heart. "

Sora simply hangs his head and looks down at his shoes as his best friend's words sank in deeply. Why can't he ever get a break? He was the Keyblade Master, for crying out loud. He knew well that his duty was to save the worlds from the threat of the Heartless, but he is still a kid, a teenager going through a very difficult time in his life. With that kind of responsibility, it's a wonder how he could stay sane throughout this whole venture. He needed a break badly, even if it's only for a day. He was still human, after all.

A punch on the arm shook him out of his stupor and he looks up face Riku once again.

"C'mon," he tells Sora. "Let's go get some food in us. No sense fighting the Heartless and the Chasers on an empty stomach, right?"

Sora lets out a defeated sigh before he finally responds dejectedly. "Yeah…"

Together, the two of them head for the nearest lift that would lead them to the lower level of the castle where the new dining hall was located. As they walked along the hallway, they spot Rift drifting towards them with Yuffie leading the blind girl by the arm. In one brief moment, Riku and Yuffie's eyes met, both smiling inwardly as the two pairs passed by each other towards opposite directions.

Minutes later, Riku and Sora enter the lift and began their descent. As the lightweight yet strong structure navigates its way towards its destination, Riku suddenly got a feeling that eyes were on him. Turning to his right, he sees Sora staring at him in a manner that demanded answers. In the blink of an eye, the brown-haired teenager had changed his demeanor without notice.

"What?" was all Riku managed to utter once he realizes his friend was no longer brooding.

In a matter of nanoseconds, Sora's flat-lined lips morphed into a smug smile, causing Riku's heart to shoot up into this throat.

_Does he know…?_

"So…" said Sora, his smile morphing halfway into a grin, sending a chill down Riku's spine. "You like Yuffie."

Instantaneously all the color in Riku's face drained away. He was so sure Sora hadn't been paying attention when they passed by Yuffie and Rift. Their split-second gazes weren't _that_ obvious, were they?

"What?" choked Riku, hoping to deter Sora from whatever thoughts the boy was thinking.

"Oh, _come on_, Riku," responds Sora, rolling his eyes. "I may be slow at times, but I'm not stupid. I saw what was going on. 'Eyes don't lie,' remember?"

Yep, the old Sora was back and boy he was back with a _vengeance_. Riku began to wonder if he was better off leaving Sora in his brooding stupor. Darn the goodness of his own heart.

"So what if I do?" uttered Riku, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Nothing, really," replied Sora, interlocking his fingers behind his head. "I'm just… surprised, that's all. I mean, Yuffie? Not that I have anything against her—she's cool and everything—but you and her?"

Riku lets out a sigh. "It's a long story."

Sora looks around him at the lift they're in and raises an eyebrow at his best friend. "Well, if you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly breaking the sound barrier in this thing. I've seen _snails_ move faster than these lifts."

Riku glances around him and realizes that Sora was right. However, he really didn't want to let Sora know how he came to meet Yuffie. That meant having to delve into the past, a past involving a particular year in which Sora was put into a deep slumber by a girl name Naminé. That would only lead to more questions about Sora's slumber that Riku did not feel it was his place to answer.

"I can't tell you now," he tells Sora.

"Why?" wondered the younger teenager.

"I have my reasons," Riku replies simply. "I'll tell you when the time's right."

Sora cocks his head to one side as he tries to make sense of what Riku said.

"Why are you acting like it's some sort of secret mission deal?" asks Sora, feeling slightly irritated. "I just want to know how you and Yuffie met and stuff."

"I just can't tell you now," sighs Riku.

"Fine," exasperated Sora. "It's just a simple question."

_No, it's not, Sora. You have no idea._

* * *

**A/N:** Will this be the last we'll see of Zero? Will Kairi ever tell Sora what happened on the Gummi Ship? And why am I asking you the questions when I know the answers? Keep reading _Final Conflict_ to find out! :D


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